The DOI matches its Crossref record; 102 of the 103 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Anxiety measures validated in perinatal populations: A systematic review
Open accessAbstract
Background Research and screening of anxiety in the perinatal period is hampered by a lack of psychometric data on self-report anxiety measures used in perinatal populations. This paper aimed to review self-report measures that have been validated with perinatal women.Methods A systematic search was carried out of four electronic databases. Additional papers were obtained through searching identified articles. Thirty studies were identified that reported validation of an anxiety measure with perinatal women.Results Most commonly validated self-report measures were the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales (HADS). Of the 30 studies included, 11 used a clinical interview to provide criterion validity. Remaining studies reported one or more other forms of validity (factorial, discriminant, concurrent and predictive) or reliability. The STAI shows criterion, discriminant and predictive validity and may be most useful for research purposes as a specific measure of anxiety. The Kessler 10 (K-10) may be the best short screening measure due to its ability to differentiate anxiety disorders. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales 21 (DASS-21) measures multiple types of distress, shows appropriate content, and remains to be validated against clinical interview in perinatal populations.Limitations Nineteen studies did not report sensitivity or specificity data. The early stages of research into perinatal anxiety, the multitude of measures in use, and methodological differences restrict comparison of measures across studies.Conclusion There is a need for further validation of self-report measures of anxiety in the perinatal period to enable accurate screening and detection of anxiety symptoms and disorders.
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“The IDAS-II has demonstrated excellent psychometric properties in pregnant samples [64, 65]”
From Trajectories of Maternal and Paternal Internalizing Symptoms from Pregnancy to 2 Years Postpartum: Identifying Modifiable Risk and Protective Factors (2024) · cites this paper as [65]
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Citations
Cites
The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale
Zigmond, A. S., & Snaith, R. P. (1983) · Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1983.tb09716.x · Cited by 47,139
An inventory for measuring depression
BECK, A. T. (1961) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1961.01710120031004 · Cited by 38,032
Hamilton, M. (1960) · Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry · doi:10.1136/jnnp.23.1.56 · Cited by 32,817 · cited 1×
“…1978); RDC = Research Diagnostic Criteria; CIS = Clinical Interview Schedule (Goldberg et al., 1970); HRSD = Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (Hamilton, 1960); PSE = Present State Examination (Wing et al., 1974); PAS = Psychiatric Assessment Schedule; SPI = Standardised Psychiatric Interview.”
Background(1970) · Cited by 24,983
An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: Psychometric properties.
Beck, A. T., Epstein, N., Brown, G., & Steer, R. A. (1988) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.56.6.893 · Cited by 14,407 · cited 2×
“Sample:PC = primary care e.g. women at antenatal clinic; R = subsample of a research study; C = community Self-report instruments: CC-D&A = Trait anxiety & depression scales (Costello & Comrey, 1967); BAI = Beck Anxiety Inventory (Beck & Steer, 1991); BDI = Beck Depression Inventory (Beck, 1961); ENES = Eysenck Neurot…”
MethodDetection of Postnatal Depression: Development of the 10-item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale
Cox, J. L., Holden, J. M., & Sagovsky, R. (1987) · British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.150.6.782 · Cited by 14,183
KESSLER, R. C., ANDREWS, G., COLPE, L. J., HIRIPI, E., MROCZEK, D. K., NORMAND, S.-L. T., WALTERS, E. E., & ZASLAVSKY, A. M. (2002) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291702006074 · Cited by 10,327 · cited 4×
“…has shown robust psychometric properties in non-perinatal samples and had substantially better validity coefficients than the GHQ-12 in discriminating cases of anxiety and mood disorders in the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Well-being (Kessler et al., 2002; Furukawa et al., 2003).”
BackgroundInfluentialCohen, J. (1992) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037//0033-2909.112.1.155 · Cited by 8,771
(1995) · Cited by 6,909
A scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire
Goldberg, D. P., & Hillier, V. F. (1979) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291700021644 · Cited by 5,639 · cited 9×
“Only the GHQ-28 has a specific anxiety subscale.”
BackgroundInfluential
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Bjelland, 2002, The validity of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale: an updated review, J. Psychiatr. Res., 52, 69
- Collegium-Internationale-Psychiatriae-Scalarum (Eds.), 1986. Selbstbeurteilungs Depressions-Skala. Beltz Test GmbH, Weinheim.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Prevalence of antenatal and postnatal anxiety: Systematic review and meta-analysis
Dennis, C., Falah‐Hassani, K., & Shiri, R. (2017) · The British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.116.187179 · Cited by 1,692
“66 Self-report measures do have limitations, such as potentially inflated prevalence estimates, but they also have high clinical utility in obstetric/midwifery, public health and primary care practices, where the majority of perinatal mental health problems are managed.”
BackgroundDing, X., Wu, Y., Xu, S., Zhu, R.-P., Jia, X.-M., Zhang, S.-F., Huang, K., Zhu, P., Hao, J., & Tao, F. (2014) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2014.02.027 · Cited by 609
“Although the prevalence of maternal anxiety during pregnancy is heterogeneous, anxiety symptoms and disorders are common in the perinatal period (Meades and Ayers, 2011; Ross and McLean, 2006; Giardinelli et al., 2012).”
BackgroundNilges, P., & Essau, C. (2015) · Der Schmerz · doi:10.1007/s00482-015-0019-z · Cited by 473
The Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale: Development and preliminary validation
Somerville, S., Dedman, K., Hagan, R., Oxnam, E., Wettinger, M., Byrne, S., Coo, S., Doherty, D., & Page, A. C. (2014) · Archives of Women's Mental Health · doi:10.1007/s00737-014-0425-8 · Cited by 302
Association Between Maternal Mood and Oxytocin Response to Breastfeeding
Stuebe, A. M., Grewen, K., & Meltzer-Brody, S. (2013) · Journal of Women's Health · doi:10.1089/jwh.2012.3768 · Cited by 295
“The Spielberger STAI has been validated in for use in perinatal populations.(22) Population normative data shows that the median score for both state and trait anxiety among women ages 19–39 is 34.”
Method
Metadata
- Authors
- Meades, R., & Ayers, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Sussex (GB)
- ORCID
- Ayers, Susan
- Venue
- Journal of Affective Disorders
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2011-09
- Volume
- 133
- Issue
- 1-2
- Pages
- 1-15
- ISSN
- 0165-0327 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2114696206
- Cited by
- 329
- References
- 103
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 31 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 26 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 27 · 2013: 21 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 1.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- figshare.com
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Affective Disorders (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- City Research Online (City University London) (acceptedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Keywords
- perinatal anxiety, anxiety screening, psychometric validation, General Health Questionnaire, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Kessler K10, DASS-21, criterion validity, discriminant validity, perinatal women
- MeSH terms
- Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Female, Humans, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Complications, Psychometrics, Surveys and Questionnaires, Sensitivity and Specificity, Weights and Measures, Reproducibility of Results, Postpartum Period
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