Measures of maternal general anxiety
Mothers reported symptoms of anxiety using validated short versions of two Hopkins Symptom Checklists, the SCL-5 and SCL-8. Items from the SCL are scored on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all bothered) to 4 (very much bothered) and have been validated at a correlation of 0.92 with the SCL-2513. Assessments of anxiety were reported in the 17th and 30thgestational weeks of each pregnancy. Two out of five questions from the SCL-5 and four out of eight questions from the SCL-8 measured anxiety at 17th and 30th gestational week, respectively. The mean score for the 17th and 30thgestational week measure ranged from 1-4. The “week 17” in Table 2-B represents the effect of maternal anxiety score at 17th gestational week on the birth outcomes (birthweight and gestational age), and so does the “week 30” that of maternal anxiety score at 30th week on the birth outcomes. The “Both” represents the additive effect of maternal anxiety score at 17th, 30thgestational week and the interaction.
The mean score for the two assessments ranged from 1.2 to 1.4 and included the following items: constantly frightened or anxious; nervous, inner turmoil; tense or stressed; and sudden fear without reason.