There's no sugar-coating psychological distress and illness perceptions in gestational diabetes mellitus: depression and anxiety are associated with negative illness perceptions.

Objective: To gain an understanding of how women with gestational diabetes perceive their illness, and whether depressive/anxiety symptoms and/or psychological distress influence these illness perceptions.

Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 159 pregnant women aged 18-44 attending gestational diabetes clinics. Participants completed a questionnaire, which included the Edinburgh Depression Scale (EDS), Kessler 10-item Psychological Distress Scale (K-10), Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ), and psychiatric/general health items.