Pregnancy-Specific Stress during the First Lockdown of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Assessing Face-to-Face versus Online Recruitment

Sandra Simó (), Juanita Cajiao-Nieto, Natalia V. Awad-Sirhan and Rafael A. Caparros-Gonzalez
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Sandra Simó: Department of Psychology, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain
Juanita Cajiao-Nieto: Grupo Interdisciplinario de Investigación en Salud, Fundación Universitaria Cafam, Bogotá 111121, Colombia
Natalia V. Awad-Sirhan: Facultad de Psicología, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago 7610658, Chile
Rafael A. Caparros-Gonzalez: Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 21, 1-12

Abstract: The study aims to assess pregnancy-specific stress among pregnant women in Spain during the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two samples of pregnant women from the south of Spain (Andalusia) were assessed using the Prenatal Distress Questionnaire (PDQ) and a sociodemographic and obstetric questionnaire. Group 1 (N = 155) was recruited face-to-face, whereas Group 2 (N = 78) was recruited online. Pregnancy-specific stress levels were significantly different in both groups. The face-to-face group (Group 1) had higher pregnancy-specific stress levels than the online group (Group 2). The online sample over-represents young adult pregnant women with high education levels and a high number of previous miscarriages. The face-to-face study seems more accessible to racially and ethnically diverse groups. The main concern among both groups was the risk of having a sick neonate. Research during the COVID-19 pandemic can benefit from using online resources to collect data to screen and identify perinatal mental health problems in a crisis environment. Nevertheless, researchers should be aware of the potential limitations this strategy can have, for example, certain groups of people may have limited access to the internet.

Keywords: pregnancy-specific stress; COVID-19; online survey; maternal mental health; perinatal mental health; prenatal health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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