The association between maternal fears about their infant/ toddler during the COVID-19 pandemic and depression and anxiety: a birth cohort study.

Publisher: Associação Brasileira de Psiquiatria Country of Publication: Brazil NLM ID: 100895975 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1809-452X (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 15164446 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Braz J Psychiatry Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: São Paulo, SP, Brasil : Associação Brasileira de Psiquiatria, [1999]-

Depression*/epidemiology ; COVID-19*/epidemiology; Female ; Infant ; Humans ; Child, Preschool ; Cohort Studies ; Pandemics ; Anxiety/epidemiology ; Mothers ; Fear

Objective: To assess the association between maternal fears about their infant/toddler and depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: In 2019, all mothers who gave birth in hospitals in Rio Grande, RS, Brazil were asked to respond to a standardized questionnaire (baseline). We followed them between May-June 2020 (first follow-up point), August-December 2020 (second follow-up point), and from October 2021 to March 2022 (third follow-up point), and asked them if they were: (1) afraid that their infant/toddler would become infected with COVID or get sick (yes/no), (2) afraid that they would contaminate their own child with COVID, and/or (3) worried about the pandemic's effects on their child's future. At baseline and at all follow-up points, we assessed depressive symptoms using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and anxiety symptoms using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, creating symptom trajectories using group-based trajectory modelling. We used multinomial logistic regression to calculate adjusted relative risk ratios (RRR).
Results: A total of 1,296 mothers participated. Worrying about the pandemic's effects on their child's future and the fear of contaminating their own child with COVID-19 increased the risk of raising depressive symptoms to a clinical level (RRR = 4.97, 95%CI 2.32-10.64 and RRR = 3.87, 95%CI 1.58-9.47, respectively) and anxiety to a moderate level (RRR = 2.91, 95%CI 1.69-5.01 and RRR = 1.86, 95%CI 1.03-3.35, respectively).
Conclusion: Fear for their children increased maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms during the pandemic.
Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2019 Feb 7;21(2):10. (PMID: 30729322)
Epidemiol Serv Saude. 2020;29(4):e2020427. (PMID: 32844918)
Rev Saude Publica. 2021 Jun 02;55:37. (PMID: 34105605)
Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2020 Oct;51(5):671-682. (PMID: 32749568)
Cad Saude Publica. 2007 Nov;23(11):2577-88. (PMID: 17952250)
Curr Psychol. 2022 Nov 19;:1-13. (PMID: 36437907)
J Clin Med. 2021 Jul 20;10(14):. (PMID: 34300358)
PLoS One. 2020 Jan 30;15(1):e0228435. (PMID: 31999768)
Reprod Health. 2021 Jun 4;18(1):111. (PMID: 34088329)
J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2021 May;30(5):654-664. (PMID: 33844945)
BMC Public Health. 2023 Feb 24;23(1):388. (PMID: 36823592)
Lancet. 2020 Mar 14;395(10227):912-920. (PMID: 32112714)
J Trop Pediatr. 2021 Jan 29;67(1):. (PMID: 33367907)
Midwifery. 2013 Sep;29(9):1050-5. (PMID: 23415369)
J Biomed Inform. 2009 Apr;42(2):377-81. (PMID: 18929686)
Arch Intern Med. 2006 May 22;166(10):1092-7. (PMID: 16717171)
J Perinat Med. 2020 Nov 26;48(9):971-976. (PMID: 32975206)
Lancet. 2018 Nov 10;392(10159):1789-1858. (PMID: 30496104)
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2022 Mar;137:105656. (PMID: 34973542)
Sci Total Environ. 2021 Jul 15;778:146198. (PMID: 33714813)
Ann Nutr Metab. 2014;65(2-3):205-10. (PMID: 25413659)
Int J Public Health. 2018 Jul;63(6):765-773. (PMID: 29691594)
Med Care. 2008 Mar;46(3):266-74. (PMID: 18388841)
Lancet. 2021 Nov 6;398(10312):1700-1712. (PMID: 34634250)
Arch Womens Ment Health. 2020 Dec;23(6):783-786. (PMID: 33215247)
Arch Womens Ment Health. 2022 Dec;25(6):1067-1078. (PMID: 36151337)
Braz J Psychiatry. 2021 Jul-Aug;43(4):402-406. (PMID: 33605399)
Soc Sci Med. 2021 Apr;275:113801. (PMID: 33713927)
J Psychiatr Res. 2022 Apr;148:214-219. (PMID: 35134728)
J Psychosom Res. 2020 Aug;135:110132. (PMID: 32521358)
J Clin Psychol. 2022 Feb;78(2):357-374. (PMID: 34331773)

433426/2018-7 Brazil CAPES Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior; Brazil DMS de Rio Grande Rio Grande Municipal Department of Health; Brazil SMS/Rio Grande Secretaria Municipal de Saúde de Rio Grande

Keywords: COVID-19; anxiety; depression; mothers

Date Created: 20231113 Date Completed: 20240226 Latest Revision: 20240229

20240229

PMC10897775

10.47626/1516-4446-2023-3306

37956257