Association between Relationship Status and Emotional Distress during Pregnancy

Krisztina Kopcsó , Hungarian Demographic Research Institute
Laura Szabó, Hungarian Demographic Research Institute

Introduction: Symptoms of emotional distress are experienced by a substantial number of women during pregnancy, and have adverse implications for the mother and her child. Not being married proved to be one of the potential risk factors of both prenatal depression and anxiety. Aims: The aim of the present analysis is to assess the associations between relationship status and prenatal depression and anxiety, while considering the subjective evaluation of the relationship and the relevant sociodemographic characteristics of the pregnant women. Methods: This preliminary analysis includes data from 7,400 women in the third trimester of their pregnancy, who participated at the first wave of the longitudinal study Cohort ’18 Growing Up in Hungary. Sociodemographic variables were measured by face-to-face interviews, while relationship satisfaction, commitment and interactions, and emotional distress were assessed by self-completed questionnaires. Bivariate analyses were used to determine the associations of depression and anxiety status with selected sociodemographic variables and relationship characteristics. The effect of relationship status on prenatal depression and anxiety will be investigated in the next step by multivariate statistical analyses. Results: 22.4% of participants had scores that indicated probable depression, while 14.5% had probable anxiety. Bivariate analyses showed significant associations of prenatal depression and anxiety with each investigated sociodemographic variable (relationship status, age, parity, education, subjective wealth, employment) and each relationship characteristic (satisfaction, commitment, conflicts, positive interactions). Conclusions: Prenatal depression and anxiety are prevalent among Hungarian women, and are associated with several sociodemographic variables – including relationship status – and the subjective evaluation of the relationship.

See extended abstract

 Presented in Session P2. Poster Session Ageing, Health and Mortality