Psychometric properties of the PSWQ in a sample of pregnant and postpartum women

ABSTRACT

Background: Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)–characterised by excessive and uncontrollable worry–is the most frequently diagnosed anxiety disorder during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Identification of GAD often relies on assessment of its cardinal feature, pathological worry. The Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) is the most robust measure of pathological worry to date but has not been extensively evaluated for use during pregnancy and the postpartum period. This study evaluated the internal consistency, construct validity, and diagnostic accuracy of the PSWQ in a sample of pregnant and postpartum women with and without a principal GAD diagnosis. Methods: One hundred forty-two pregnant and 209 postpartum women participated in this study. Sixty-nine pregnant and 129 postpartum participants met criteria for a principal diagnosis of GAD. Results: The PSWQ demonstrated good internal consistency and converged with measures assessing similar constructs. Pregnant participants with principal GAD scored significantly higher on the PSWQ than those with no psychopathology and postpartum participants with principal GAD scored significantly higher than those with principal mood disorders, other anxiety and related disorders, and no psychopathology. A cut-off score of 55 and 61 or greater was determined for detecting probable GAD during pregnancy and the postpartum period, respectively. Screening accuracy of the PSWQ was also demonstrated. Conclusions: This study underscores the robustness of the PSWQ as a measure of pathological worry and probable GAD and supports its use in the detection and monitoring of clinically significant worry symptoms during pregnancy and postpartum period.

KEYWORDS:

• worry
• generalized anxiety disorder
• pregnant
• postpartum
• measurement

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the perinatal women who generously volunteered their time to participate in this study.

Disclosure statement

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

Availability of data and materials

The dataset for the current study is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

The first author (BI) is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships (181578).