Stress, symptom proneness, and general adaptational distress during pregnancy

Symptom proneness (SP), the 20 psychiatric items of the Cornell Medical Index, here called the Cornell Psychiatric Items (CPI), and a test developed partially from the Schedule of Recent Experiences called the Utah Stress Scales (STRESS) were used to predict general adaptational distress (GAD) symptoms during pregnancy on a sample of 1306 primigravidas. The causal model explored in seven path analyses developed for months 3-9 of pregnancy is that SP and STRESS affect CPI, and that SP, STRESS, and CPI directly affect GAD symptoms. Results suggest that CPI is most predictive of GAD symptoms until the ninth month when SP and STRESS become more predictive. It is suggested that GAD pregnancy symptoms are affected by situational stress, symptom proneness, and level of psychological upset and that this system of relations changes over the course of pregnancy. This information should have important implications for anticipating potential problems and improving the quality of nursing care of pregnant women.