Pregnancy-specific anxiety: which women are highest and what are the alcohol-related risks?

In a national US sample of pregnant women (n = 311), we investigated the question of who becomes highly anxious about pregnancy by examining putative sociodemographic, pregnancy- and mental health-related predictors of pregnancy anxiety. We also assessed the contribution of pregnancy anxiety to the risk of significant alcohol consumption during pregnancy. English-speaking pregnant women aged 18+ years were recruited online. Results indicated that sociodemographic factors (younger age, white, unmarried, lower education, lower household income, no previous children), feelings about current pregnancy (unwanted), and general anxiety (higher general and state anxiety) predicted higher pregnancy-related anxiety, whereas age, religiosity, number of weeks pregnant, unplanned pregnancy, and maternal depressive symptoms did not. Pregnancy anxiety was the single strongest predictor of alcohol drinking risk during pregnancy (p < .001, ∆R2 = .10) a relationship that held after controlling for other significant predictors. Pregnancy anxiety also represented the strongest predictor of screening positively for drinking risk during pregnancy at the total T-ACE (an alcohol risk screener for pregnancy) level of 3+ (odds ratio 95% CI = 1.61–4.14, p < .001), though not at the level of 2+ (odds ratio 95% CI = 0.98–1.68, p = .07). We discuss implications for the link between maternal mental health and birth/ child outcomes.