Maternal Anxiety and Its Associated Factors During the First and Second Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic in Serbia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Ljiljana Jeličić; Svetlana Janković; Mirjana Sovilj; Ivana Bogavac; Anđela Drobnjak; Aleksandra Dimitrijević; Miško Subotić

doi:10.2147/PRBM.S391694

Maternal Anxiety and Its Associated Factors During the First and Second Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic in Serbia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2022 Dec 20:15:3775-3792. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S391694. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Ljiljana Jeličić^{1

2}, Svetlana Janković^{3

4}, Mirjana Sovilj², Ivana Bogavac^{1

2}, Anđela Drobnjak², Aleksandra Dimitrijević^{5

6}, Miško Subotić¹

Affiliations

¹ Cognitive Neuroscience Department, Research and Development Institute "Life Activities Advancement Institute", Belgrade, Serbia.
² Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Institute for Experimental Phonetics and Speech Pathology, Belgrade, Serbia.
³ Department of Acute Perinatal Pathology, Belgrade University Medical School, Belgrade, Serbia.
⁴ Clinic for Gynecology and Obstetrics Narodni Front Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
⁵ Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia.
⁶ Clinic of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Clinical Centre of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia.

Abstract

Aim: The COVID 19-pandemic affects people differently, while pregnant women are among the most sensitive populations. The data about maternal mental health during the COVID-19 outbreak are in some ways consistent but also country-specific.

Purpose: The study aims to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pregnant women's anxiety and identify its associated factors.

Patients and methods: This cross-sectional study included a sample of 358 pregnant women during the first and second waves of the pandemic in Serbia. An anonymous survey included basic demographic questions, pregnancy-related background questions, the question of self-reported COVID-19-related fear, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS).

Results: The study revealed no pregnant women with low anxiety levels measured by STAI-T and STAI-S, while the STAI-S and STAI-T scores indicated high anxiety in 32.4% and 42.7% of pregnant women, respectively. The obtained results pointed out the nonlinear dependence of state anxiety on observed associated factors and their complex interactions, including the data collecting period.

Conclusion: Our findings reveal that COVID-19 affects pregnant women's mental health and makes it necessary for psychological monitoring and support for pregnant women, which may be reflected in their mental health but also the development of their offspring.

Keywords: COVID-19 related fear; anxiety; first and second wave of coronavirus; maternal mental health; pregnancy; social support.

Grants and funding

This work was partially supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia within the project “Influence of psychophysiological, sociological, and cultural factors on speech and language in the child population”. This project is realized in cooperation with the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Serbia.