Pregnancy-related psychopathology: A comparison between pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19–related social restriction periods

Table 1 Sociodemographic characteristics of nonCOVID-19 (n = 21) and COVID-19 (n = 22) samples

Parameter	Pre-COVID-19		COVID-19 period	Statistic	P value
Age, yr (mean ± SD)	35.714 ± 5.763		34.591 ± 8.342	t = -0.511	0.612
Gestational age, wk	19.476 ± 4.792		17.636 ± 6.616	t = 1.040	0.304
Country of origin
Italy	17		18	χ2 = 0.1018	0.750
Romania	1		0
Ukraine	1		1
Belgium	1		0
Brazil	1		1
Ecuador	0		1
Gabon	0		1
Educational level
Primary school	0		0	χ2 = 0.0879	0.957
Middle school	4		5
High school	9		9
College/University/Postgraduate	8		8
Partners
Yes	20		20	χ2 = 0.0017	0.967
No	1		2
Past pregnancies
No	9		9	χ2 = 0.0323	0.857
Yes	12		13
Past abortions
No	14		13	χ2 = 0.0393	0.843
Yes	7		9
Past abortion types
None	14		13	χ2 = 0.414	0.813
Spontaneous	4		6
Induced	1		0
Both	2		3
Medical conditions
Yes	4		7	χ2 = 0.3718	0.542
No	17		15
Psychiatric disorders (lifetime)
Yes	10 (5 major depressive, 3 anxiety, 1 bipolar, 1 schizotypal personality)		6 (3 major depressive, 3 anxiety)	χ2 = 1.1324	0.287
No	11		16
Psychotherapy
Yes	6		1	χ2 = 2.9585	0.085
No	15		21
Psychopharmacological treatment
Yes	3		1	χ2 = 0.3295	0.566
No	18		21
Family psychiatric history
Yes	6		8	χ2 = 0.0482	0.826
No	15		14
Current psychiatric disorder
Yes	6		8	χ2 = 0.0482	0.826
No	15		14
Stressful life events
Yes	7		13	χ2 = 1.9234	0.165
No	14		9
Significant pregnancy complications
Yes	4 (3 emesis gravidarum, 1 pre-eclampsia)		3 (emesis gravidarum)	χ2 = 0.2308	0.631
No	17		19
Support
Yes	20		21	χ2 = 0.477	0.490
No	1		1
Type of support
None	1		1	χ2 = 9.7181	0.021121
Partner	13		4
Relatives and friends	4		6
Multiple	3		11

COVID-19: Coronavirus disease 2019; SD: Standard deviation; t: t value of student’s t-test; χ² = chi-squared test.

Table 2 Scores on psychometric instruments used in pre-COVID-19 (n = 21) and COVID-19 (n = 22) samples

Measure [median (95%CI) for all measures]	Pre-COVID-19	COVID-19 period	Mann-Whitney’s U	P value
EPDS total score	6 (4.92 to 9.94)	7.5 (5.64 to 9.64)	213	0.6672
EPDS-3A (anxiety cluster, items 3, 4, and 5)	2 (1.52 to 3.24)	3 (2.64 to 4.36)	150.5	0.05238
EPDS-suicide item 10	0 (0 to 0)	0 (0 to 0)	231	0.99202
STAI-Y1 state	39 (39.19 to 51.10)	32 (30.83 to 38.90)	117.5	0.00596a
STAI-Y2 trait	33 (31.70 to 39.45)	31 (29.49 to 36.42)	193.5	0.36812
SCL-SOM (somatization)	0.583 (0.47 to 1.00)	0.25 (0.27 to 0.66)	793.5	0.54186
SCL-O-C (obsessive-compulsive)	0.4 (0.39 to 0.92)	0.1 (0.15 to 0.52)	631	0.20408
SCL-I-S (interpersonal sensitivity)	0.222 (0.148 to 0.66)	0.0555 (0.08 to 0.44)	533	0.4654
SCL-DEP (depression)	0.462 (0.45 to 1.12)	0.1155 (0.17 to 0.54)	674.5	0.17068
SCL-ANX (anxiety)	0.6 (0.50 to 1.26)	0.1 (0.13 to 0.42)	526.5	0.09692
SCL-HOS (hostility)	0.167 (0.22 to 0.64)	0.167 (0.06 to 0.19)	512	0.18024
SCL-PHOB (phobic anxiety)	0 (0.05 to 0.43)	0 (0.02 to 0.25)	394	0.86502
SCL-PAR (paranoid ideation)	0.167 (0.15 to 0.74)	0 (0.12 to 0.43)	438	0.70394
SCL-PSY (psychoticism)	0 (0.06 to 0.48)	0 (0.05 to 0.18)	432	0.63836
SCL-SLEEP (sleep disorder)	0.333 (0.33 to 1.26)	0.333 (0.30 to 0.9148)	474.5	0.96012
SCL-GSI (Global Symptom Index)	0.311 (0.34 to 0.81)	0.1665 (0.16 to 0.42)	838	0.56868

^aP < 0.0125.

COVID-19: Coronavirus disease 2019; 95%CI: 95% confidence interval; EPDS: Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale; SCL: Derogatis’ Symptom Check-list-90 item questionnaire; SD: Standard deviation; STAI: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.

Table 3 Correlation matrix for the psychometric scales

	EPDS total	EPDS-3A	STAI-Y1	STAI-Y2	SCL-SOM	SCL-OC	SCL-INT	SCL-DEP	SCL-ANX	SCL-HOS	SCL-PHOB	SCL-PAR	SCL-PSY	SCL-SLEEP	SCL-GSI
EPDS total	-	0.703c	0.61c	0.53c	0.4602b	0.4673b	0.3278a	0.44b	0.4233b	0.3454a	0.1706	0.4185b	0.1675	0.6013c	0.458b
EPDS-3A	0.703c	-	0.1561	0.1108	0.2996	0.225	0.2065	0.2553	0.2744	0.2194	0.2133	0.2297	0.1519	0.3224a	0.2858
STAI-Y1	0.61c	0.1561	-	0.7365c	0.4101b	0.5533b	0.4736b	0.6443c	0.6568c	0.4417b	0.2841	0.4448b	0.2532	0.4705b	0.574c
STAI-Y2	0.53c	0.1108	0.7365c	-	0.4623b	0.585c	0.5083c	0.5457c	0.5145c	0.4041b	0.3112a	0.5736c	0.3359a	0.5024c	0.5644c
SCL-SOM	0.4602b	0.2996	0.4101b	0.4623b	-	0.7321c	0.6493c	0.723c	0.5977c	0.7221c	0.6816c	0.6684c	0.652c	0.6091c	0.8345c
SCL-OC	0.4673b	0.225	0.5533b	0.585c	0.7321c	-	0.7634c	0.8937c	0.7555c	0.7149c	0.5539c	0.8873c	0.6972c	0.5762c	0.9174c
SCL-INT	0.3278a	0.2065	0.4736b	0.5083c	0.6493c	0.7634c	-	0.7977c	0.6119c	0.6796c	0.6925c	0.8046c	0.7961c	0.396b	0.8512c
SCL-DEP	0.44b	0.2553	0.6443c	0.5457c	0.723c	0.8937c	0.7977c	-	0.8588c	0.7255c	0.6221c	0.8443c	0.7751c	0.5262c	0.9535c
SCL-ANX	0.4233b	0.2744	0.6568c	0.5145c	0.5977c	0.7555b	0.6119c	0.8588c	-	0.7571c	0.4613b	0.6853c	0.6115c	0.5563c	0.8535c
SCL-HOS	0.3454a	0.2194	0.4417b	0.4041b	0.7221c	0.7149c	0.6796c	0.7255c	0.7571c	-	0.5406c	0.6628c	0.6504c	0.5008c	0.8195c
SCL-PHOB	0.1706	0.2133	0.2841	0.3112a	0.6816c	0.5539c	0.6925c	0.6221c	0.4613b	0.5406c	-	0.5855c	0.6864c	0.295	0.7034c
SCL-PAR	0.4185b	0.2297	0.4448b	0.5736c	0.6684c	0.8873c	0.8046c	0.8443c	0.6853c	0.6628c	0.5855c	-	0.8686c	0.6187c	0.9035c
SCL-PSY	0.1675	0.1519	0.2532	0.3359a	0.652c	0.6972c	0.7961c	0.7751c	0.6115c	0.6504c	0.6864c	0.8686c	-	0.4808b	0.8479c
SCL-SLEEP	0.6013c	0.3224a	0.4705b	0.5024c	0.6091c	0.5762c	0.396b	0.5262c	0.5563c	0.5008c	0.295	0.6187c	0.4808b	-	0.6395c
SCL-GSI	0.458b	0.2858	0.574c	0.5644c	0.8345c	0.9174c	0.8512c	0.9535c	0.8535c	0.8195c	0.7034c	0.9035c	0.8479c	0.6395c	-

^aP < 0.05.

^bP < 0.01.

^cP < 0.001.

EPDS: Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale; EPDS-3A: Anxiety cluster of the EPDS; SCL: Derogatis’ Symptom Check-list-90 item questionnaire; ANX: Anxiety; DEP: Depression; GSI: Global Symptom Index; HOS: Hostility; I-S: Interpersonal sensitivity; O-C: Obsessive-compulsive; PAR: Paranoid ideation; PHOB: Phobic anxiety; PSY: Psychoticism; SLEEP: Sleep disorder; SOM: Somatization; SD: Standard deviation; STAI: State-trait anxiety inventory.