Altered psychological functioning in pregnant women: an empirical investigation

Abstract

Alteration in women's psychological functioning during pregnancy, vis-a-vis their non-pregnant state, has been aneedotally reported by several authors. In this investigation, 90 women in the last trimester of pregnancy completed a 17-item self-report questionnaire focusing on subjectively experienced alterations of cognitive function. Each woman's partner independently completed a similar inventory of any changes in her cognitive functioning which he had observed. Although, as expected, women tended to subjectively report larger changes than those observed by their partners, both members of the couple reported significant deterioration on the majority of questionnaire items. The limitations of the methodology are critically examined.