Review Pregnancy anxiety: A systematic review of current scales Robyn J Brunton a,1 , Rachel Dryer a , Anthony Saliba a , Jane Kohlhoff b a School of Psychology, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW 2795, Australia b Karitane, Po Box 241 Villawood, NSW 2163, Australia article info Article history: Received 26 July 2014 Received in revised form 14 January 2015 Accepted 15 January 2015 Available online 28 January 2015 Keywords: Anxiety Pregnancy-related anxiety Antenatal Prenatal Maternal Scales abstract Background: Depression in pregnancy is a serious health issue; however, anxiety in pregnancy, with a reported higher prevalence, may also be a serious issue. Anxiety symptoms in pregnancy can relate to several anxiety types, such as general anxiety, anxiety disorders, and pregnancy-related anxiety (PrA), anxiety characterised by pregnancy specific fears and worries. Awareness of these distinctions however, is not always widespread. Both general anxiety and PrA are associated with maternal negative outcomes (e.g. increased nausea) however; PrA is more often associated with negative outcomes for the child (e.g. preterm birth). Furthermore, PrA is potentially a risk factor for postnatal depression with assessment of PrA potentially affording important inter- vention opportunities. Currently several different instruments are used for PrA however their psychometric properties are unclear. To our knowledge a review of current instruments and their psychometric properties is lacking, this paper aims to fill that gap. Methods: Studies, which assessed PrA, published between 1983 and 2013 in peer-reviewed journals, were identified. Results: Sixty studies were identified after applying inclusion/exclusion criteria, and classified as: pregnancy- related anxiety specific, scales for other constructs, sub scales of another instrument and general anxiety scales. Each scale's strengths and limitations were discussed. Limitations: Our findings may be limited by restricting our review to peer-reviewed journals. This was done however as we sought to identify scales with good psychometric properties. Conclusions: Currently no scales are available for pregnancy-related anxiety with sound theoretical and psychometric properties. Clinically the need for such a scale is highlighted by the potential intervention opportunities this may afford. Future research should be directed towards the development of such a scale. & 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Contents 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 24 2. Method............................................................................................................. 26 3. Results ............................................................................................................. 26 4. Discussion .......................................................................................................... 31 5. Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 32 6. Limitations .......................................................................................................... 32 Role of funding source .................................................................................................... 32 Conflict of interest........................................................................................................ 32 Acknowledgement........................................................................................................ 32 References .............................................................................................................. 32 1. Introduction Historically, pregnancy was considered a time of protection from mental health disorders (Spinelli, 1997). There is however increasing recognition that emotional disorders in pregnancy occur more frequently than previously thought (Austin, 2003). For example, the Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jad Journal of Affective Disorders http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.01.039 0165-0327/& 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1 School of Psychology, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst NSW 2795, Australia. Mailing address: PO Box 1776, Bathurst NSW 2795, Australia. Tel.: þ61 2 6334 4743; Mobile: þ61 409 910 598; fax: þ61 2 6334 2850. E-mail address: rbrunton@csu.edu.au (R. Brunton). Journal of Affective Disorders 176 (2015) 24–34