Relationships between anxiety induced by COVID-19 and perceived social support among Iranian pregnant women

Abstract

Background

The rapid spread of COVID-19 and the time needed to develop a vaccine or definitive treatment for the disease have caused great anxiety in communities, especially in pregnant women whose high levels of distress may have short and/or long-term maternal and fetal consequence. This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between anxiety induced by COVID-19 and perceived social support in Iranian pregnant women.

Methods

This online cross-sectional study was conducted on 801 pregnant women from all over Iran in 2020. The data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, the multidimensional scale of perceived social support, and the coronavirus disease anxiety scale. A standard multiple linear regression model was used to identify the association between perceived social support and anxiety, controlling for possible confounding variables. Partial r was used as an estimate of effect size.

Results

The mean anxiety score was 10.7 ± 8.0, in which its level was moderate in 122 (15.2%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 12.8–17.9%)) of the participants, and severe in 28 (3.4%; 95% CI: 2.3–5.0%) of them. The mean score of perceived social support was 48.2 ± 7.6. 6.9% (95% CI: 5.2–8.8%) and 93.1% (95% CI: 91.2–94.8%) of the participants reported mild and moderate levels of perceived social support, respectively. The results of the multiple linear model showed a significant negative correlation between perceived social support and anxiety levels in a way that for every 10 units increase in the perceived social support score, the anxiety level of pregnant women was decreased by 0.8 units (B= −0.08, t= −2.08, p = 0.037), which was a small effect size (partial r = −0.07).

Conclusion

There was a small significant relationship between the perceived social support and COVID-19 anxiety. Further studies are required to identify associated factors of anxiety level during COVID-19 in pregnant women.

Keywords:

• COVID-19
• coronavirus
• social support
• pregnancy

Acknowledgments

This study was sponsored by the research council of Gonabad University of Medical Sciences (Grant no. A-10-1269-8). The authors are grateful for this support.

Disclosure statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and publication of this article.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by Gonabad University of Medical Sciences (Grant no. A-10-1269-8).