beha io al
sciences
Edi o ial
The COVID-19 Pandemic Can Impac Pe ina al
Men al Heal h and he Heal h o he O sp ing
Ra ael A. Capa os-Gonzalez 1,2,* , Ana Ganho-Á ila 3and Alejand o de la To e-Luque 4,*
1Depa men o Nu sing, Facul y o Heal h Sciences, Uni e si y o G anada, 18071 G anada, Spain
2Mind, B ain, and Beha io Resea ch Cen e (CIMCYC), Uni e si y o G anada, 18011 G anada, Spain
3
Cen e o Resea ch in Neu opsychology and Cogni i e Beha io al In e en ion, Facul y o Psychology and
Educa ional Sciences, Uni e si y o Coimb a, 3000-115 Coimb a, Po ugal; [email p o ec ed]
4Depa men o Legal Medicine, Psychia y and Pa hology, Uni e sidad Complu ense de Mad id,
28040 Mad id, Spain
*Co espondence: cg477@ug .es (R.A.C.-G.); [email p o ec ed] (A.d.l.T.-L.)
Recei ed: 9 Sep embe 2020; Accep ed: 20 Oc obe 2020; Published: 23 Oc obe 2020
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Abs ac :
The COVID-19 ongoing pandemic cons i u es a majo challenge o coun ies h oughou
he wo ld due o he apid sp ead o SARS-CoV-2 and de as a ing consequences in heal h. No one is
ee om COVID-19 impac . In his ega d, p egnan women a e no he excep ion. The COVID-19
ou b eak ep esen s a massi e sou ce o s ess ul agen s o women and hei babies du ing he
pe ina al pe iod. The COVID-19 pandemic has been sugges ed o po en ially ha e sho - and long- e m
de imen al e ec s on p egnan women and he baby. These ad e se consequences ange om men al
o medical diseases. Du ing he las cen u ies, se e al d ead ul and a al inciden s ha e pu p egnan
women and hei babies a highe isk o mo ali y and heal h de e io a ion. Fo example, i has
been in o med ha women exposed o he 1918 lu pandemic (commonly known as he Spanish lu)
while p egnan showed highe a es o p ema u e deli e y in he sho e m. Long- e m consequences
ha e also been epo ed and indi iduals (bo h males and emales) who we e exposed o he 1918
lu pandemic while in u e o had a highe isk o de eloping schizoph enia, diabe es, co ona y hea
disease o cance h oughou hei li espan.
Keywo ds:
p ena al s ess; an ena al s ess; psychological s ess; psychological well-bieng; physiological
s ess; co isol; p egnancy; COVID-19; SARS-Co-2; o sp ing; neona e
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic cons i u es a majo challenge o coun ies h oughou he
wo ld due o he apid sp ead o SARS-CoV-2 and he de as a ing consequences o heal h. No one is
ee om he impac o COVID-19. In his ega d, p egnan women a e no an excep ion. The COVID-19
ou b eak ep esen s a massi e sou ce o s ess o women and hei babies du ing he pe ina al pe iod.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been sugges ed o po en ially ha e sho - and long- e m de imen al
e ec s on p egnan women and hei babies. These ad e se consequences ange om men al illnesses
o medical diseases. Du ing he las ew cen u ies, se e al d ead ul and a al inciden s ha e pu
p egnan women and hei babies a highe isk o mo ali y and heal h de e io a ion. Fo example,
i has been no ed ha women exposed o he 1918 lu pandemic (commonly known as he Spanish lu)
while p egnan showed highe a es o p ema u e deli e y in he sho e m. Long- e m consequences
ha e also been epo ed and indi iduals (bo h males and emales) who we e exposed o he 1918
lu pandemic while in u e o had a highe isk o de eloping schizoph enia, diabe es, co ona y hea
disease o cance h oughou hei li espan [1,2].
Beha . Sci. 2020,10, 162; doi:10.3390/bs10110162 www.mdpi.com/jou nal/beha sci
Beha . Sci. 2020,10, 162 2 o 4
The en i onmen su ounding p egnan women a ec s he de eloping e us while s ill in he
womb. In ac , his en i onmen imp in s and p og ams he heal h and disease o he o sp ing om
bi h o he end o li e. This hypo hesis was posi ed by Da id Ba ke and is known as he De elopmen al
O igin o Heal h and Disease (DOHaD) hypo hesis [
3
]. An e olu iona y pe spec i e sugges s ha
an en i onmen wi h high le els o s ess can p epa e he de eloping e us o adap o he ex eme
ci cums ances ha he child will be exposed o a e his/he bi h. In his ega d, a en ion de ici
hype ac i i y diso de , o ins ance, has been associa ed wi h highe app aisals o dange while anxie y
diso de s ha e been ela ed wi h highe igilance [4].
Du ing he ongoing global pandemic o COVID-19, po en ial agen s o ma e nal s ess ha e been
desc ibed so a , and all o hem may lead o pe ina al men al heal h issues. Some o hese agen s
may come di ec ly om he i us and adjus men o ela ed disease, whe eas o he s a e indi ec ly
ela ed o SARS-CoV-2. In o de o limi he SARS-CoV-2 sp ead, wo ldwide go e nmen s ha e
imposed some beha io al adjus men s, such as coun y lockdown, social dis ancing and mobili y
es ic ion. Social dis ancing ep esen s a c ucial app oach ha may lead o ad e se men al heal h
e ec s. Humans a e ins inc i ely social and end o ga he as a mechanism o cope wi h high le els o
s ess and a way o inc ease esilience [
5
]. Isola ion and limi a ion o mo emen may esul in p egnan
women expe iencing a lack o social suppo om iends, ela i es and pa ne s, economic di icul ies,
emo e wo k and po en ially s aying in o e c owded homes. Fu he s esso s ela ed o social dis ancing
du ing he COVID-19 pandemic o women du ing he pe ina al pe iod a e he challenges o ha ing
o school child en a home, addi ionally woman a e acing inc eased isk ela ed o in ima e pa ne
iolence since du ing he lockdown women had o cohabi wi h a po en ial agg esso , educed numbe
o an ena al and pos na al appoin men s, es ic ions ela ed o pa ne ’s pa icipa ion du ing bi h
and changes associa ed wi h b eas eeding ecommenda ions [6,7].
A g owing body o e idence appea s o suppo he de imen al psychological e ec s he COVID-19
pandemic and ela ed policies can ha e on p egnan women. Wo ldwide, esea che s a e mo ing
o wa d o unde s and he ex en o which hese ca as ophic ci cums ances can shape pe ina al men al
heal h and how high le els o s ess su e ed by p egnan women can p og am he well-being o he
o sp ing. Howe e , a majo e o should be unde aken o unde s and men al heal h consequences and
o imp o e op imal men al heal h se ice p o ision. In his espec , he absence o psychome ically
alida ed psychological measu es o assess pandemic- ela ed s ess among p egnan women has
esul ed in he de elopmen o new high-s anda d and c oss-cul u al measu es. These measu es will
help esea che s gain new insigh s in o he assessmen o psychological s ess du ing he COVID-19
ou b eak and po en ial upcoming pandemics (e.g., [
8
,
9
]). So a , high le els o anxie y and dep ession
ha e been ound in p egnan women om a a ie y o geog aphical and cul u al backg ounds, such as
Canada, UK, Aus alia, India and China [
10
,
11
]. P egnan women om Is ael we e epo ed o ha e
high le els o COVID-19 anxie y, and A ab women displayed he highes le els o psychological
s ess when compa ed wi h Jewish p egnan women [
12
]. Addi ional inequali ies among ce ain
g oups o p egnan women ha e also been disco e ed, which highligh s he need o include women in
high- isk g oups. A na ional coho s udy de eloped in he UK ound ha women o e 35 yea s old,
o e weigh /obese and hose om a mino i y e hnici y migh ha e a highe isk o SAR-CoV-2 in ec ion.
Vulne able p egnan women a e among hose who ha e highe le els o s ess ela ed o wo ies abou
ge ing in ec ed o sp eading SARS-CoV-2 [
13
,
14
]. Fu he wide- eaching p ojec s ocusing on he
psychological impac o he COVID-19 pandemic on p egnancy a e ongoing, such as he COVID-19
and Pe ina al Expe iences S udy (COPE) [15].
To sum up, p egnan women and hei o sp ing ha e become high- isk segmen s o he popula ion
in his unp eceden ed ime [
16
]. Policymake s and heal h ca e p o essionals ha e made a majo e o
o ackle he impac o COVID-19. Despi e his e o , p e en i e p og ams and in e en ions should
be implemen ed o amelio a e he men al heal h bu den om COVID-19. In addi ion, i should be
compulso y o e e y p egnan woman o be assessed o men al heal h issues a e e y s age o he
p egnancy and pos pa um [
6
]. This ailo ed assessmen could help de elop adjus men s a egies
Beha . Sci. 2020,10, 162 3 o 4
o cope wi h he pandemic and educe he p obabili y o ce ain diseases being de eloped in he
o sp ing la e in li e. Finally, a call o u he esea ch on ma e nal men al heal h dese es o be made.
Resea che s a e encou aged o ocus hei e o s on iden i ying p o ec i e and isk ac o s and o
de elop in e en ions o ma e nal men al heal h du ing he COVID-19 pandemic.
Au ho Con ibu ions:
Concep ualiza ion, R.A.C.-G., A.G.-
Á
. and A.d.l.T.-L.; in es iga ion, R.A.C.-G., A.G.-
Á
.
and A.d.l.T.-L.; w i ing—o iginal d a p epa a ion, R.A.C.-G.; w i ing— e iew and edi ing, R.A.C.-G., A.G.-
Á
.
and A.d.l.T.-L. All au ho s ha e ead and ag eed o he published e sion o he manusc ip .
Funding: This esea ch ecei ed no ex e nal unding.
Acknowledgmen s:
The au ho s would like o hank all clinicians and esea che s who a e wo king o educe he
e ec s o he COVID-19 pandemic.
Con lic s o In e es : The au ho s decla e no con lic o in e es .
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