Trends in mental health and substance use disorders and treatment receipt among pregnant and nonpregnant women in the United States, 2008–2014

Abstract

Purpose

To compare trends in mental health and substance use disorders and treatment receipt of pregnant and nonpregnant women from 2008 to 2014.

Methods

Using data from the 2008–2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, logistic regression was used to compare trends in mental health and substance use disorders and treatment receipt for mental health and substance use disorders among propensity score-matched groups of pregnant (n = 5520) and nonpregnant women (n = 11,040). Among women in the matched sample who met criteria for at least one mental illness, trends in mental health treatment receipt of pregnant (n = 1003) and nonpregnant women (n = 2634) were compared.

Results

There were no differences in the trends by pregnancy status from 2008 to 2014. Past-year anxiety disorder, past-month psychological distress and illicit drug use disorder increased in the total sample from 2008 to 2014, yet trends in mental health treatment and unmet need for substance use treatment did not change over time. Pregnant women had lower odds of mental illness, but those who had mental illness were less likely to receive mental health treatment than their nonpregnant counterparts.

Conclusions

There is a need for preventive strategies addressing anxiety disorder, psychological distress and illicit drug use among women of childbearing age as well as initiatives to increase access to mental health treatment among pregnant women.

Keywords:

• Mental health
• substance use disorders
• treatment receipt
• trends
• pregnant women

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.