REVIEW ARTICLEPsychosocial risk factors for excessive gestational weight gain: A systematic review
Section snippets
Search strategy
The review was conducted in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement.17 Studies were identified by searching the electronic databases: Academic Search Complete, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature Complete, MEDLINE Complete, PsycINFO, Informit, Web of Science, and Scopus (see Appendix 1). Additional articles were obtained through citation tracking of similar research. The search was conducted in April 2014, using
Associations between excessive gestational weight gain and psychological distress
Four longitudinal studies5, 13, 18, 19 reviewed the association between psychosocial distress and excessive GWG, as presented in Table 2. Studies included both primiparous and multiparous women, aged from early adulthood to late thirties. The measures of psychological distress differed between studies. Bodnar et al.18 measured depression severity using the Structured Interview Guide for the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale with Atypical Depression Supplement.27 Webb et al.13 utilised the
Discussion
In the majority of studies reviewed, a significant proportion of participants (ranging from 41% to 64%) gained weight in excess of recommended guidelines compared to gaining inadequate or adequate weight.10, 13, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24 The findings of the relationship between each psychosocial factor and excessive GWG were also relatively consistent across studies.
Significant associations were found between increased depressive symptoms and excessive GWG.13, 18 It was proposed that pregnancy
Conclusion
Given the association between increased depressive symptoms and excessive GWG, clinicians, such as psychologists, midwives and GPs, may need to screen all pregnant women for depression and provide assistance on managing weight during mood fluctuations. Given that increased body dissatisfaction and low levels of social support can affect, and are affected by, GWG in a multidirectional nature,13, 18, 20 intervening to alleviate one factor may also help to manage those related to it. However,
Conflict of interests
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Acknowledgments
Nil. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper. And no financial assistance was received for this project.
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