1. Results and Discussion
Correlates of Mental Health Symptoms in Pregnant College Students Sanshawanna Jones, Claire Salinas, Nichole Frazer, and Sara Sohr-Preston Southeastern Louisiana University
Introduction
The current study focused on mental health and life experiences of pregnant college students. Mental health was examined since research has shown that mothers who experience high levels of depression are more likely to deliver premature low birth weight babies (Kumari &Joshi, 2013). Research has further indicated that maternal education level moderates postnatal depression (Pearson, Evans, Kounali, Lewis, Heron, Ramchandani, & Stein, 2013).However, in depth research examining difficulties related to pregnancy in women while in pursuit of higher education has been largely ignored. Hardships (such as morning sickness, body dissatisfaction, lack of social support, and college stress) have not been evaluated in depth. Mental health features included in this study were pregnancy-related anxiety, body dissatisfaction, and depressive symptoms.
Method
Participants
Participants included 37 pregnant students pursing higher education (mean age = 20.39, SD=2.35) who completed online surveys on demographic information, pregnancy-related anxiety, body dissatisfaction, satisfaction with life, depression, positive pregnancy experiences, negative pregnancy experiences, college stress, college self-efficacy, faculty and classmate support, and career-related support from parents. A bivariate correlational analysis was conducted.
Procedure
Data collection occurred online. Participants accessed the questionnaire via a weblink posted by the primary investigator. They were required to complete the survey in one session. Instructions stated that participants were allowed to skip any items with which they felt uncomfortable.
Measures
Pregnancy-related anxiety. Participants fears and worries revolving around their pregnancies were assessed with the Pregnancy-Related Anxiety Questionnaire – Revised (PRAQ-R; Huizink et al., 2004).
Body dissatisfaction. Pregnant students’ concerns about their body shape was measured using the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ; Cooper et al., 1987).
Depressive Symptoms. Two self-report inventories were used to asses participants’ depressed mood: the Patient Health Questionnaire depression scale (PHQ-9; Kroenke & Spitzer, 2002) and the Edinburg Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS; Cox, Holden & Sagovsky, 1987).
Positive and negative pregnancy experiences. Participants reported on their degree of both positive and negative pregnancy experiences by completing the Pregnancy Experiences Scale (DiPietro et al., 2012).
Satisfaction with Life. Participants’ overall satisfaction with their current life circumstances was measured with the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; Diener et al., 1985).
College stress and college self-efficacy. Items developed by Zajacova, Lynch, and Espenshade (2005) were used to assess participants’ perceived levels of stress and self-efficacy regarding typical college experiences.
Faculty and classmate support. An adjusted version of the Teacher and Classmate Support Scale (Torsheim, Wold, & Samdal, 2000) was used to measure participants’ perceived support received from faculty and peerson campus. The word “teacher” was changed to “professor” in the version used.
Career-related parent support. The instrumental assistance, career-related modeling, verbal encouragement, and emotional support subscales of the Career-Related Parent Support Scale (CRPS; Turner et al., 2003).
Demographic information. Participants reported on their GPA (on a 4-point scale), age in years, and number of college credit hours (using ordinal coding).
Results and Discussion
The correlational findings suggest that pregnant college students experienced more depressive symptoms (as measured by the EPDS) when having more negative pregnancy experiences (r = .47; p < .01), being less satisfied with life (r = -.56; p < .01).
Depressive symptoms (based on the PHQ) were linked to more pregnancy-related anxiety (r = .36; p <.05), more college stress (r = .56; p < .01), greater body dissatisfaction (r = .46; p < .01), and, surprisingly more support from faculty and classmates (r = .44; p < .01).
Pregnant students also reported greater levels of pregnancy-related anxiety when they were younger (r = -.44; p < .01), reported more college stress (r = .56; p < .01), higher body dissatisfaction (r = .77; p < .01), and more of all four types of career-related parent support assessed (r ranged from .48 to .55; p < .01).
Furthermore, body dissatisfaction was significantly positively related to college stress (r = .64; p < .01), and to the CRPS subscales of career-related modeling (r = .35; p < .05), verbal encouragement (r = .37; p < .05), and emotional support (r = .43; p < .05).
These preliminary results suggest potential factors to address in efforts to assist pregnant college students to maintain academic performance and improve mental health during pregnancy. Further research including more participants is needed to conclude whether these results can be generalized.
Correspondence: