ArticleBrain, behavior, & immunity - health2023
The impact of the second COVID-19 lockdown on anxiety and depressive symptoms in pregnant women: A case study of pregnant women in northern Italy.
Article in Brain, behavior, & immunity - health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- The association of COVID-19 lockdowns with adverse birth and pregnancy outcomes in 28 high-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Nature human behaviour · 2025Pooled it
- Prevalence of co-morbid anxiety and depression in pregnancy and postpartum: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychological medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Prenatal Mental Health and Its Stress-Process Mechanisms During a Pandemic Lockdown: A Moderated Parallel Mediation Model.Psychiatry investigation · 2025Article
- Miscarriage Trends and Blood Group Associations During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comparative Study in Ramsar, Iran.Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery researchArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: the different lockdown phases due to COVID-19 may have negatively impacted pregnant women's mental health. Concerning antenatal stress, most studies focused more on the effect of pandemic onset than on the impact of the following phases and restrictions. Aim: the present study aimed to assess levels of anxiety and depression in a group of Italian pregnant women during the second COVID-19 phase and possible risk factors. Method: We recruited 156 pregnant women through our Perinatal Psychology Outpatient Clinic. We divided the sample into women recruited before the pandemic (N = 88) through a face-to-face antenatal class and pregnant women recruited during the second lockdown (Covid-19 study group) (November 2020-April 2021) through the same antenatal class via Skype (N = 68). To investigate depressive and anxiety symptoms, we administered the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y) scales; women's medical history and obstetric data were collected. Findings: women belonging to the Covid-19 study group reported higher depressive and anxious levels than the pre-pandemic group. Moreover, during the second lockdown previous psychopathology and being close to childbirth were related to increased depression; a history of abortion was related to higher levels of trait anxiety instead. Conclusion: recurrent restrictive measures due to COVID-19 negatively affected the antenatal mental well-being of pregnant women, particularly worsening depressive and anxious feelings. Pregnant women during the pandemic represented a vulnerable population to be monitored more closely and timely to prevent psychological problems in the postpartum period and their consequences on the child. Keywords: anxiety, depression, pregnancy, COVID-19, mental health, lockdown.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.