Abstract
BackgroundPsychological distress and inappropriate or excessive weight gain are common in pregnancy and are associated with adverse maternal and offspring outcomes. Psychological well-being and weight status of women during pregnancy might be interrelated. We aimed to examine whether psychological distress during pregnancy is associated with gestational weight gain.MethodIn a population-based cohort of 3393 pregnant women, information about psychological distress, depressive and anxiety symptoms was assessed at 20 weeks of gestation using the Brief Symptom Inventory questionnaire. Weight was repeatedly measured during pregnancy and obtained by questionnaire before and after pregnancy. Linear regression and multinomial logistic regression models were used. Weight gain in the second half of pregnancy, total weight gain, and the risks of inadequate and excessive total weight gain were the main outcome measures.ResultsIn total, 7.0% of all women experienced psychological distress. Overall psychological distress and anxiety were associated with lower weight gain in the second half of pregnancy (differences − 1.00 kg (95% confidence interval (CI) − 1.62, − 0.37) and − 0.68 kg (95% CI - 1.24, -0.11), respectively). These associations fully attenuated into non-significance after taking account for socio-demographic variables. Similar results were observed for total weight gain. Only women with anxiety symptoms had, independently of potential confounders, a lower risk of excessive weight gain (odds ratio (OR) 0.61 (95% CI 0.48, 0.91)).ConclusionsIn this large prospective cohort study, the observed associations of psychological distress with weight gain during pregnancy seem to be largely explained by common socio-demographic factors.
Highlights
Psychological distress is generally defined as general stress, depressive symptoms, anxiety or experiencing an adverse life event [1, 2]
We used linear regression models to assess the associations of overall psychological distress, depression, and anxiety with weight gain in the second half of pregnancy and total gestational weight gain
We observed a statistically significant interaction of maternal psychological distress and pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and performed stratified analyses for the clinical BMI categories according to the World Health Organization (WHO) 2000 criteria
Summary
Psychological distress is generally defined as general stress, depressive symptoms, anxiety or experiencing an adverse life event [1, 2]. Pregnancy is a critical period for psychological distress and weight gain, since both are associated with increased risks of adverse maternal and offspring outcomes [7,8,9,10,11]. Psychological distress and inappropriate or excessive weight gain are common in pregnancy and are associated with adverse maternal and offspring outcomes. Overall psychological distress and anxiety were associated with lower weight gain in the second half of pregnancy (differences − 1.00 kg (95% confidence interval (CI) − 1.62, − 0.37) and − 0.68 kg (95% CI - 1.24, -0.11), respectively). These associations fully attenuated into non-significance after taking account for socio-demographic variables. Conclusions In this large prospective cohort study, the observed associations of psychological distress with weight gain during pregnancy seem to be largely explained by common socio-demographic factors
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