Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39214911›Full record

ArticleArchives of women's mental health2025

Anxiety and neural correlates of attention and self-regulation in pregnancy: a resting-state EEG study.

Josephine C P Levy, Tal Yatziv, Madison Bunderson, Cody Bartz, Emily A Vancor, Helena J V Rutherford

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Article in Archives of women's mental health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Josephine C P Levy *Yale Child Study Center, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-0258-1940
Tal Yatziv *Yale Child Study Center, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-5431-5970
Madison BundersonYale Child Study Center, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3902-9762
Cody BartzYale Child Study Center, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
Emily A VancorYale Child Study Center, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
Helena J V RutherfordYale Child Study Center, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. helena.rutherford@yale.edu.ORCID 0000-0001-8680-1535

Funding

Anna Freud Centre Anna Freud CentreFundação Bial Fundação BialJohn Leopold Weil and Geraldine Rickard Weil Memorial Charitable Foundation, Inc. John Leopold Weil and Geraldine Rickard Weil Memorial Charitable Foundation, Inc.Kavli Foundation Kavli Foundation
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposePregnant women are particularly vulnerable to experiencing mental health difficulties, especially anxiety. Anxiety in pregnancy can be characterized as having two components: general symptomology experienced in the general population, and pregnancy-related anxiety more focused on pregnancy, delivery, and the future child. In addition, women also commonly report experiencing attentional control and self-regulation difficulties across the peripartum period. However, links between anxiety and neural and cognitive functioning in pregnancy remain unclear. The present study investigated whether anxiety is associated with neural markers of attention and self-regulation measured using electroencephalography (EEG). Specifically, we examined associations between general and pregnancy-related anxiety and (1) beta oscillations, a neural marker of attentional processing; and (2) the coupling of beta and delta oscillations, a neural marker of self-regulation, in frontal and prefrontal regions.

methodsA sample of 135 women in the third trimester of their pregnancy completed a resting-state EEG session.

resultsGeneral anxiety was associated with increased beta oscillations, in line with research in the general population, interpreted as reflecting hyperarousal. Pregnancy-related anxiety was associated with decreased beta oscillations, interpreted as reflecting inattention and mind-wandering. Moreover, pregnancy-related anxiety, but not general anxiety, was linked to stronger delta-beta coupling, suggesting anxiety specifically related to the pregnancy is associated with investing greater effort in self-regulation.

conclusionOur results suggest that general and pregnancy-related anxiety may differentially relate to neural patterns underlying attention and self-regulation in pregnancy.

Indexed as

AnxietyAttentionPregnancy ComplicationsSelf-ControlAdultBeta RhythmElectroencephalographyFemaleHumansPregnancyPregnancy Trimester, ThirdYoung AdultAnxietyBeta oscillationsDelta-beta couplingEEGPregnancy

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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.