The Relationship between Fear of Covid-19, Anxiety and Depression in Pregnant Women

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) fear, anxiety and depression on pregnant women. Methods: The cross-sectional, correlational research was conducted with 335 pregnant women from June to October 2020 at the antenatal outpatient clinics of a university hospital. Data were collected using Description Form, Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Results: The FCV-19S, BAI and EPDS average scores were 21.12±6.56, 6.39±5.48 and 8.13±9.13, respectively, indicating pregnant women' levels of COVID-19 fear were moderately high and their anxiety and depression levels were moderate. Overall, 14.0% of pregnant women had depression risk and 42.4% had symptoms of anxiety (26.3% low level, 10.4% moderate level and 5.7% high level). A positive, significant relationship was found between the COVID-19 fear level and depression (r=0.207, p<0.001), and anxiety level (r=0.135, p<0.013). COVID-19 fear and anxiety significantly predicted the risk of depression (β=0.17, p<0.001; β=0.43, p<0.001) and they explain 24% of the variance in depression. Conclusion: The level of COVID-19 fear increased anxiety and depression risk in pregnant women. In this context, it seems that using effective interventions to decrease of COVID-19 fear may help in reducing anxiety and risk of depression among pregnant women.

Keywords

• COVID-19
• fear
• ; depression
• pandemic
• ; anxiety

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