Pandemic-related pregnancy stress among pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain

Jaqueline Garcia-Silva; Alfonso Caracuel; Alvaro Lozano-Ruiz; Fiona Alderdice; Marci Lobel; Oliver Perra; Rafael A. Caparros-Gonzalez

doi:10.1016/j.midw.2021.103163

Pandemic-related pregnancy stress among pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain

Jaqueline Garcia-Silva, Alfonso Caracuel, Alvaro Lozano-Ruiz^*, Fiona Alderdice, Marci Lobel, Oliver Perra, Rafael A. Caparros-Gonzalez

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Objective: The aim was to develop and establish the psychometric properties of the Pandemic-Related Pregnancy Stress Scale (PREPS) in European Spanish speaking pregnant women in Spain.

Design: A cross section design using a non-random sample of 206 women completed the questionnaire during the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown from April to June 2020 in Spain. Psychological, sociodemographic and obstetric factors and the new PREPS were collected.

Results: Bartlett's test of sphericity (χ²(105) = 580.36, p < .001), and KMO = .79 confirmed appropriateness for factor analysis of the PREPS. Confirmatory factor analyses based on the factor structure of the original USA English version of this instrument confirmed three factors - Preparedness Stress (7 items), Perinatal Infection Stress (5 items), and Positive Appraisal (3 items). The 15-item version of the PREPS demonstrates internal consistency and reliability are adequate (α > .77), and for F1 - Preparedness (α > .65), for F2 - Infection (α > 0.60) and for F3 - Positive appraisal (α > .55). The three factors exhibited good inter-item correlations, (F1 – Preparedness: .21; F2 – Infection: .23, and F3 – Positive Appraisal: .29). Convergent validity was examined through the Pearson's correlation coefficients of the PREPS with the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Prenatal Distress Questionnaire (PDQ). Correlation between PREPS total and PSS was high, and moderate with PDQ (p < .05).

Conclusion: The psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the PREPS make it a valuable psychological measure to assess pandemic-related stress among pregnant women.

Original language	English
Article number	103163
Journal	Midwifery
Volume	103
Early online date	06 Oct 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2021.103163
Publication status	Published - Dec 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Not applicable.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021

Keywords

COVID-19
Pandemic-related pregnancy stress
Prenatal maternal stress
Psychometric properties

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Maternity and Midwifery

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Pandemic-related pregnancy stress among pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
Copyright 2021 the authors. This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits distribution and reproduction for non-commercial purposes, provided the author and source are cited.
Final published version, 1.2 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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title = "Pandemic-related pregnancy stress among pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain",

abstract = "Objective: The aim was to develop and establish the psychometric properties of the Pandemic-Related Pregnancy Stress Scale (PREPS) in European Spanish speaking pregnant women in Spain. Design: A cross section design using a non-random sample of 206 women completed the questionnaire during the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown from April to June 2020 in Spain. Psychological, sociodemographic and obstetric factors and the new PREPS were collected. Results: Bartlett's test of sphericity (χ2(105) = 580.36, p < .001), and KMO = .79 confirmed appropriateness for factor analysis of the PREPS. Confirmatory factor analyses based on the factor structure of the original USA English version of this instrument confirmed three factors - Preparedness Stress (7 items), Perinatal Infection Stress (5 items), and Positive Appraisal (3 items). The 15-item version of the PREPS demonstrates internal consistency and reliability are adequate (α > .77), and for F1 - Preparedness (α > .65), for F2 - Infection (α > 0.60) and for F3 - Positive appraisal (α > .55). The three factors exhibited good inter-item correlations, (F1 – Preparedness: .21; F2 – Infection: .23, and F3 – Positive Appraisal: .29). Convergent validity was examined through the Pearson's correlation coefficients of the PREPS with the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Prenatal Distress Questionnaire (PDQ). Correlation between PREPS total and PSS was high, and moderate with PDQ (p < .05). Conclusion: The psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the PREPS make it a valuable psychological measure to assess pandemic-related stress among pregnant women.",

keywords = "COVID-19, Pandemic-related pregnancy stress, Prenatal maternal stress, Psychometric properties",

author = "Jaqueline Garcia-Silva and Alfonso Caracuel and Alvaro Lozano-Ruiz and Fiona Alderdice and Marci Lobel and Oliver Perra and Caparros-Gonzalez, {Rafael A.}",

note = "Funding Information: Not applicable. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021",

year = "2021",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1016/j.midw.2021.103163",

language = "English",

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AU - Garcia-Silva, Jaqueline

AU - Caracuel, Alfonso

AU - Lozano-Ruiz, Alvaro

AU - Alderdice, Fiona

AU - Lobel, Marci

AU - Perra, Oliver

AU - Caparros-Gonzalez, Rafael A.

PY - 2021/12

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N2 - Objective: The aim was to develop and establish the psychometric properties of the Pandemic-Related Pregnancy Stress Scale (PREPS) in European Spanish speaking pregnant women in Spain. Design: A cross section design using a non-random sample of 206 women completed the questionnaire during the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown from April to June 2020 in Spain. Psychological, sociodemographic and obstetric factors and the new PREPS were collected. Results: Bartlett's test of sphericity (χ2(105) = 580.36, p < .001), and KMO = .79 confirmed appropriateness for factor analysis of the PREPS. Confirmatory factor analyses based on the factor structure of the original USA English version of this instrument confirmed three factors - Preparedness Stress (7 items), Perinatal Infection Stress (5 items), and Positive Appraisal (3 items). The 15-item version of the PREPS demonstrates internal consistency and reliability are adequate (α > .77), and for F1 - Preparedness (α > .65), for F2 - Infection (α > 0.60) and for F3 - Positive appraisal (α > .55). The three factors exhibited good inter-item correlations, (F1 – Preparedness: .21; F2 – Infection: .23, and F3 – Positive Appraisal: .29). Convergent validity was examined through the Pearson's correlation coefficients of the PREPS with the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Prenatal Distress Questionnaire (PDQ). Correlation between PREPS total and PSS was high, and moderate with PDQ (p < .05). Conclusion: The psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the PREPS make it a valuable psychological measure to assess pandemic-related stress among pregnant women.

AB - Objective: The aim was to develop and establish the psychometric properties of the Pandemic-Related Pregnancy Stress Scale (PREPS) in European Spanish speaking pregnant women in Spain. Design: A cross section design using a non-random sample of 206 women completed the questionnaire during the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown from April to June 2020 in Spain. Psychological, sociodemographic and obstetric factors and the new PREPS were collected. Results: Bartlett's test of sphericity (χ2(105) = 580.36, p < .001), and KMO = .79 confirmed appropriateness for factor analysis of the PREPS. Confirmatory factor analyses based on the factor structure of the original USA English version of this instrument confirmed three factors - Preparedness Stress (7 items), Perinatal Infection Stress (5 items), and Positive Appraisal (3 items). The 15-item version of the PREPS demonstrates internal consistency and reliability are adequate (α > .77), and for F1 - Preparedness (α > .65), for F2 - Infection (α > 0.60) and for F3 - Positive appraisal (α > .55). The three factors exhibited good inter-item correlations, (F1 – Preparedness: .21; F2 – Infection: .23, and F3 – Positive Appraisal: .29). Convergent validity was examined through the Pearson's correlation coefficients of the PREPS with the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Prenatal Distress Questionnaire (PDQ). Correlation between PREPS total and PSS was high, and moderate with PDQ (p < .05). Conclusion: The psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the PREPS make it a valuable psychological measure to assess pandemic-related stress among pregnant women.

KW - COVID-19

KW - Pandemic-related pregnancy stress

KW - Prenatal maternal stress

KW - Psychometric properties

U2 - 10.1016/j.midw.2021.103163

DO - 10.1016/j.midw.2021.103163

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85116933639

SN - 0266-6138

VL - 103

JO - Midwifery

JF - Midwifery

M1 - 103163

ER -

Pandemic-related pregnancy stress among pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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