A Prospective Study Of Somatic And Emotional Symptoms Of Pregnancy

Abstract

Using a prospective design, this study examined somatic and emotional symptoms of planned pregnancy in a sample of 162 healthy women. All women participated in a baseline (prepregnancy) interview. Seventy women became pregnant and were assessed at each trimester; the 92 nonpregnant controls were interviewed 3, 6, and 9 months after their baseline interview. All participants also completed the Anxiety and Depression subscales of the Symptom Checklist-Revised (SCL 90-R). No significant group differences were found at baseline. As expected, however, pregnant women reported significantly more instances of digestive symptoms (nausea, vomiting, heartburn), fatigue, and moodiness than nonpregnant controls. Discriminant-function analyses found that in the context of all symptom variables, nausea and fatigue were the primary distinguishing features of the first trimester. In the second and third trimester, fatigue and heartburn contributed to the distinction of pregnant and nonpregnant women. Although pregnancy precipitates many physical and psychological changes in this sample of women who had planned pregnancies, our results did not support the notion that pregnancy is either a time of significant emotional turmoil or of heightened emotional well-being.