Prenatal stress, depression, social isolation, and anxiety during COVID-19

• In Event: Early Life Impacts of COVID-19: Prenatal and Early Childhood

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to establish a prenatal cohort of pregnant women from East Tennessee to examine how prenatal stress, maternal depression, anxiety, and social isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic interact to impact cognitive development in infancy and early childhood. This project is modeled after "Project Ice Storm" (Laplante et al., 2004; 2008) which found that prenatal stress as a result of the 1998 Montreal ice storm resulted in negative language and cognitive developmental outcomes in both toddlerhood and later at 5 ½ years. Here, we extend Laplante et al.’s (2004; 2008) work to understand the psycho-social effects of a global pandemic; The current project uses the same scale Laplante et al. (2008) used to measure objective stress and with additional measures important for assessing social isolation, anxiety, and maternal depression in this unprecedented time.
The Appalachian region of Tennessee presents a unique opportunity to study the long term consequences of prenatal stress and social isolation as it is one of the nation's most impoverished areas. This region suffers from a weak infrastructural safety net, which leads to a heavy reliance on family and community. It is possible that social distancing guidelines and mandates have strained some of these social bonds, while strengthening others, resulting in amplification of prenatal stress from social isolation and mitigation of prenatal stress due to social connection. Understanding the possible effects of such a large-scale pandemic on birth outcomes and infant cognitive development is crucial as climate scientists predict an increase in pandemic frequency due to the growing ecological footprint of human activity.
We will present the data from the first stage of our project: the levels of prenatal stress (Impact Event Scale; Life Change Index; Objective Stress: Threat, Loss, Scope, and Change), maternal depression (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale; Beck’s Depression Inventory), anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory; Big 5 Scale), and social isolation (Perceived Social Isolation; Relational-Interdependent Self-Construal Scale; Social Support Appraisals Scale; Social Conflict Scale [Modified]), as well as birth outcomes such as preterm birth, weight, head circumference, and birth complications, from an initial cohort of 94 women. These data were collected during the first wave of the pandemic, from May-July 2020. The initial phase of this project was pre-registered on OSF. Data analysis of women's overall stress levels, maternal depression levels, anxiety levels, and social isolation levels is currently underway. These data will be presented in the context of birth outcomes (e.g., preterm birth, weight, head circumference, birth complications) obtained from TN vital statistics and confirmed by parental reports. In follow-up work, we will explore cognitive and language outcomes in the offspring of this cohort. This data extends previous work exploring the effects of a natural disaster by putting it in the context of a global pandemic. Furthermore, we hope to identify what prenatal factors are protective for infants born during these stressful and uncertain times of COVID-19.

Authors

• Rebecca Robb Crum, University of Tennessee - Knoxville
  Presenting Author

• Daniela Santos Oliveira, University of Tennessee - Knoxville
  Non-Presenting Author

• Garriy Shteynberg, University of Tennessee
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jessica Sari Fleming Hay, University of Tennessee - Knoxville
  Non-Presenting Author