Psychosocial predictors of labor/delivery complications and infant birth weight: a prospective multivariate study.

Using a multidimensional approach to measure stress, this study prospectively examined the influence of maternal stress, social support and coping styles on labor/delivery complications and infant birth weight. Beginning in the third month of pregnancy, stress was assessed monthly. In each trimester, data on social support, coping strategies, lifestyle behaviors and pregnancy progress were collected.

Psychosocial correlates of prepartum and postpartum depressed mood.

Background: The aim of the present study was to delineate the influence of maternal stress, social support and coping styles on depressed mood during pregnancy and the early postpartum period.

Methods: Beginning in the third month of pregnancy, data on numerous variables including daily stress (Hassles), state-anxiety (STAI-state), pregnancy-specific stress (PEQ) and depressed mood (DACL) were collected monthly. In each trimester social support (SSQ), coping strategies (CISS) and pregnancy progress were assessed.

Variations in stress levels over the course of pregnancy: factors associated with elevated hassles, state anxiety and pregnancy-specific stress.

This prospective study tracked hassles, pregnancy-specific stress, and state anxiety during pregnancy. A second objective was to identify predictors of each stress dimension. Pregnant women (n=161) completed the Hassles Scale, the Pregnancy-Specific Stress Questionnaire (PEQ), and the state-anxiety scale (STAI-state) monthly, beginning in the third month of pregnancy.

A prospective study of the impact of psychosocial and lifestyle variables on pregnancy complications.

This prospective study examines the influence of maternal stress, social support and lifestyle variables reported over the course of pregnancy on subsequent gestational and intrapartum complications. Demographic and biomedical factors were also studied. One hundred and two women were followed on a monthly basis beginning in the third month of pregnancy.

What do older good and poor sleepers do during periods of nocturnal wakefulness? The Sleep Behaviors Scale: 60+.

To determine whether older good and poor sleepers with and without insomnia complaints differ in the nature of activities they engage in during periods of nocturnal wakefulness, the authors developed and evaluated the Sleep Behaviors Scale: 60+. Good sleepers (n = 163), low-distress poor sleepers (n = 49), and high-distress poor sleepers (n = 28) were compared on this measure as well as on sleep parameters, personality, lifestyle, and cognitive-affective variables. Findings indicate good psychometric properties for the new measure, offer a rationale for examining the frequency of the nocturnal behaviors reflected by the measure's 4 subscales (Active Behaviors, Relaxation, Cognitive Arousal, and Medication), and suggest a possible role for these behaviors in the etiology and treatment of insomnia.