Perceived stress and COVID-19-related stressors: the moderating role of social support during pregnancy

ABSTRACT

Recent evidence on perceived stress during the COVID-19 pandemic shows that birthing people experienced stress from pandemic-related stressors. While psychosocial stress is a significant predictor of adverse birth outcomes, social support can reduce stress levels during pregnancy. This study examined social support moderation of relationships between COVID-19-related stressors and perceived stress during pregnancy. The analysis included data from publicly insured pregnant participants who were enrolled in a randomized control trial of two enhanced prenatal care models in Fresno, California, and completed a third-trimester questionnaire between April and August 2020 (n = 77). Multivariate linear regression was used to estimate the associations between perceived stress and COVID-19-related stressors and social support moderation. COVID-19-related stressors related to childcare and tension at home remained significantly associated with perceived stress adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and other COVID-19-related stressors. Social support moderated the relationship between perceived stress and loss of childcare (β = 2.4, 95 percent CI = 0.5–4.3, p = .014). Overall, social support moderated the association between COVID-19 stressors and perceived stress. While social support is commonly conceptualized as protective, the finding of greater stress around childcare among individuals reporting greater social support suggests complexity for leveraging these support networks during the pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19 pandemic
• pregnancy
• social support
• stress

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work is supported by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (AD-2018C2-13227), “Comparing Approaches to Enhanced Prenatal Care to Improve Maternal and Child Health in Central California” award. Dr. Blebu and Dr. Tesfalul were supported by a postdoctoral fellowship award, funded by the UCSF California Preterm Birth Initiative/Marc and Lynne Benioff, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and an NICHD T32 training grant (1T32HD098057-01) entitled “Transdisciplinary Research Training to Reduce Disparities in Preterm Birth and Improve Maternal and Neonatal Outcomes.” Dr. Karasek is supported by a UCSF Kaiser Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) NICHD/ORWH training grant [K12 HD052163].