Roxanne Lemieux1,2,3, Julia Garon-Bissonnette2,3,4,5, Mathilde Loiselle2,3,4, Élodie Martel2,3,4, Christine Drouin-Maziade1,2, Nicolas Berthelot1,2,3,5. 1. Département des sciences infirmières, 14847Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada. 2. Centre d'études interdisciplinaires sur le développement de l'enfant et la famille (CEIDEF), Québec, Canada. 3. Groupe de recherche et d'intervention auprès des enfants vulnérables et négligés (GRIN), Québec, Canada. 4. Département de psychologie, 14847Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada. 5. Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire sur les problèmes conjugaux et les agressions sexuelles (CRIPCAS), Québec, Canada.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Examine the association between news media use frequency during the COVID-19 pandemic and the scale of psychological distress in pregnant women, considering this distress known harmful effects on the fetus development. METHOD: Pregnant women living in Quebec province (N = 1014) have been recruited in April 2020 through social media, while a state of health emergency was declared. Participants were divided in 4 groups, according to self-reported frequency of news media consulting (little or none; one time a day; several times a day; constant). They filled measures of depressive symptoms, negative affects, post-traumatic stress symptoms and anxiety specific to COVID-19. Instrument scores were grouped under a unique factor of psychological distress. RESULTS: An ANCOVA controlling for age, gestational age, education level, household annual revenue and a diagnosed mental disorder present at the time of participation in study shows that news media exposure frequency is significantly associated with psychological distress severity in pregnant women, during COVID-19 pandemic, F(3,998) = 27.02, p < 0.001, η2 partial = 0.08. Given the mean comparisons a posteriori, higher psychological distress rates are found as soon as news media exposure exceeds once a day (effect sizes between 0.38 and 0.81). CONCLUSIONS: The more pregnant women report consulting the news media during the COVID-19 pandemic, the more likely they are to exhibit psychological distress. Results provide one of the first empirical supports to recommendations of World Health Organization, Canada government and psychiatric associations that encourage population to limit their news media consulting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
OBJECTIVE: Examine the association between news media use frequency during the COVID-19 pandemic and the scale of psychological distress in pregnant women, considering this distress known harmful effects on the fetus development. METHOD: Pregnant women living in Quebec province (N = 1014) have been recruited in April 2020 through social media, while a state of health emergency was declared. Participants were divided in 4 groups, according to self-reported frequency of news media consulting (little or none; one time a day; several times a day; constant). They filled measures of depressive symptoms, negative affects, post-traumatic stress symptoms and anxiety specific to COVID-19. Instrument scores were grouped under a unique factor of psychological distress. RESULTS: An ANCOVA controlling for age, gestational age, education level, household annual revenue and a diagnosed mental disorder present at the time of participation in study shows that news media exposure frequency is significantly associated with psychological distress severity in pregnant women, during COVID-19 pandemic, F(3,998) = 27.02, p < 0.001, η2 partial = 0.08. Given the mean comparisons a posteriori, higher psychological distress rates are found as soon as news media exposure exceeds once a day (effect sizes between 0.38 and 0.81). CONCLUSIONS: The more pregnant women report consulting the news media during the COVID-19 pandemic, the more likely they are to exhibit psychological distress. Results provide one of the first empirical supports to recommendations of World Health Organization, Canada government and psychiatric associations that encourage population to limit their news media consulting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Authors: Nicolas Berthelot; Roxanne Lemieux; Julia Garon-Bissonnette; Maria Muzik Journal: J Midwifery Womens Health Date: 2019-09-30 Impact factor: 2.388
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