Maternal Mental Health, COVID-19–Related Distress, and Disruptions in Lifestyle Behaviors Among Postpartum Mothers With a Previous Hypertensive Disorder of Pregnancy.

Background: Many perinatal people experienced pandemic-related distress and changes in health behaviors at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but less is known about how the pandemic continued to impact their health. Objective: The authors of this study examined the influence of pandemic-related distress and maternal mental health on postpartum lifestyle behaviors of mothers with a previous hypertensive disorder of pregnancy. Methods: Between September 2021 and March 2022, 82 postpartum (19.2 ± 5.5 months) mothers with a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy completed measures of pandemic-related distress and pandemic-related disruption in lifestyle behaviors from the Coronavirus Perinatal Experiences Impact Survey. A Patient Health Questionnaire-9 score ≥ 10 and a score ≥ 3 on the Breslau scale indicated significant depressive and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, respectively. Results: Twenty-two (27.2%) and 30 (36.6%) participants had significant depressive or PTSD symptoms, respectively. In models adjusted for education, income, parity, delivery prepandemic or peripandemic, intervention group, and prepregnancy mental health history, both PTSD symptoms (B = 0.229, P =.029) and pandemic-related distress (B = 0.492, P <.001) associated with greater disruption in health behaviors. Depressive symptoms did not associate with greater disruption in health behaviors (B = 0.169, P =.135). Conclusion: Monitoring PTSD symptoms may be vital in supporting mothers with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in making lifestyle changes to prevent cardiovascular disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing is the property of Lippincott Williams & Wilkins and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)