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BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic and countermeasures implemented by governments around the world have led to dramatically increased symptoms of depression and anxiety. Pregnant individuals may be particularly vulnerable to the negative psychological effects of COVID-19 public health measures because they represent a demographic that is most affected by disasters and because pregnancy itself entails significant life changes that require major psychosocial and emotional adjustments. ObjectiveThe PdP study was designed to investigate the associations among exposure to objective hardship caused by the pandemic, perceived stress and psychological distress in pregnant individuals, and developmental outcomes in their offspring. MethodsThe PdP study comprises a prospective longitudinal cohort of individuals who were pregnant at enrollment, with repeated follow-ups during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Participants were eligible if they were pregnant, ≥17 years old, at ≤35 weeks of gestation at study enrollment, living in Canada, and able to read and write in English or French. At enrollment, participants completed an initial survey that assessed demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, previous pregnancies and births, prepregnancy health, health conditions during pregnancy, medications, psychological distress, social support, and hardships experienced because of the COVID-19 pandemic (eg, lost employment or a loved one dying). For the first three months following the initial survey, participants received a monthly email link to complete a follow-up survey that asked about their experiences since the previous survey. After three months, follow-up surveys were sent every other month to reduce participant burden. For each of these surveys, participants were first asked if they were still pregnant and then routed either to the next prenatal survey or to the delivery survey. In the postpartum period, surveys were sent at 3, 6, and 12 months of infant age to assess maternal stress, psychological distress, and infant development. ResultsParticipant recruitment via social media (Facebook and Instagram) began on April 5, 2020, and is ongoing. As of April 2021, more than 11,000 individuals have started the initial survey. Follow-up data collection is ongoing. ConclusionsThis longitudinal investigation seeks to elucidate the associations among hardships, maternal psychological distress, child development during the COVID-19 pandemic, and risk and resilience factors that amplify or ameliorate these associations. The findings of this study are intended to generate knowledge about the psychological consequences of pandemics on pregnant individuals and point toward prevention and intervention targets. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/25407

Task-unrelated thoughts (TUTs) are frequent distractions from our everyday tasks, which can reduce productivity and safety during task performance. This necessitates the examination of factors that modulate TUT occurrence in daily life. One factor that has previously been implicated as a source of TUT is personally salient concerns. External factors such as news media serve as cues for these concerns, potentially increasing TUT occurrence. However, this has not been thoroughly examined in everyday life settings. We thus utilized Ecological Momentary Assessment to survey participants throughout the day for ten days, on their TUTs and news consumption in two separate studies. Study 1 focused on the impact of news related to the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic, as a common and global concern. We found that TUT occurrence was significantly predicted by COVID-19 news consumption, such that TUT occurrence increased with COVID-19 news consumption. To extend these findings, we implemented Study 2 using similar methods, but focusing on the consumption of news media in general. TUT occurrence was predicted by general news consumption, with an increase in reports of TUT following consumption of news media in general. We thus extended the association found between TUT and COVID-19-related news in Study 1, to any news topic in Study 2. We speculate that the increase in TUTs was due to heightened salience of current concerns, cued by the news. These findings highlight the importance of considering when we choose to consume news media and the value of examining contextual factors when studying TUTs in daily life.

We sought to determine the relationship between dispositional mindfulness, Big Five personality traits, and psychopathology in a sample of adolescents at high risk for mood and anxiety disorders. The incremental utility of dispositional mindfulness in predicting psychopathology over and above the Big Five was investigated using a facet-level approach. One hundred and thirty-one adolescents (M = 13.76, SD = 1.65) who had a parent with a history of mood or anxiety disorders completed measures of dispositional mindfulness and facets of mindfulness (i.e., attention and awareness, nonreactivity, nonjudgement, and self-acceptance), the Big Five model of personality, psychopathology (i.e., internalizing, externalizing, and total problems scales), and mindfulness experience. Hierarchical multiple regressions were performed. Controlling for sex, mindfulness experience, and theory driven Big Five factors, higher dispositional mindfulness related to fewer internalizing, externalizing, and total problems. Mindfulness facet self-acceptance was key to this association. Nonreactivity moderated effects of attention and awareness, such that higher attention and awareness correlated to fewer internalizing and total problems only when nonreactivity was also high. Therefore, self-acceptance and nonreactive observing may be unique components of mindfulness that have implications for adolescent psychopathological symptoms, even controlling for well-established personality vulnerability factors. Future adolescent mindfulness intervention research and practice should emphasize techniques that involve observation while concurrently enhancing nonreactivity and self-acceptance., Author(s): Jade A. Stein [sup.1] [sup.2] [sup.3] [sup.4] , Lianne M. Tomfohr-Madsen [sup.2] [sup.5] [sup.6] , Signe Bray [sup.2] [sup.3] [sup.6] [sup.7] [sup.8] , Frank P. MacMaster [sup.2] [sup.3] [sup.4] [...]

ObjectivePreterm birth (PTB) is a prevalent public health concern. Pregnancy anxiety, poor sleep quality, and short sleep duration have been associated with an increased risk of PTB. Theoretically, sleep variables could moderate the strength of the relationship between pregnancy anxiety and PTB; investigating this question was the primary aim of this study.MethodThe sample consisted of 290 pregnant women who were assessed at 2 time points in pregnancy: Time 1 (< 22 weeks gestational age [GA]; MGA = 15.04, SD = 3.55) and Time 2 (32 weeks GA; MGA = 32.44, SD = 0.99). Pregnancy anxiety was assessed with the Pregnancy-Related Anxiety Scale, sleep quality was assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and sleep duration was assessed via actigraphy. Data on gestational age at birth were obtained from the electronic medical record.ResultsAfter adjustment for relevant covariates, higher levels of pregnancy anxiety were associated with shorter gestational length and an increased risk of PTB. There were no direct associations between sleep quality or sleep duration and gestational length or PTB. Pregnancy anxiety interacted with sleep duration such that pregnancy anxiety was significantly associated with shorter gestational length and PTB only when women had relatively shorter sleep duration (approximately < 8.3 hr).ConclusionsThis study reveals new evidence of an interaction between pregnancy anxiety and sleep duration in the prediction of the timing of delivery. The findings point to avenues to better understand and potentially ameliorate risk for PTB. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).