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World J Psychiatry. Mar 19, 2026; 16(3): 116848
Published online Mar 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v16.i3.116848
Published online Mar 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v16.i3.116848
Effect of anxiety and depression symptoms in pregnancy on Apgar score and birth weight of newborns
Shu-Juan Wu, Hui-Xian Kang, Department of Obstetrics, Shijiazhuang Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Shijiazhuang 050000, Hebei Province, China
Jing-Xian Wang, Department of Clinical Psychology, Shijiazhuang Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Shijiazhuang 050000, Hebei Province, China
Ping Li, Department of Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation, Shijiazhuang Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Shijiazhuang 050000, Hebei Province, China
Author contributions: Wu SJ was responsible for conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, data curation, writing – original draft, project administration; Wang JX was responsible for investigation, resources, data curation, writing – review & editing; Kang HX was responsible for validation, investigation, resources; Li P was responsible for supervision, funding acquisition.
Supported by 2020 Hebei Provincial Key Medical Research Project, No. 20201360.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Shijiazhuang Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital (Approval No. 202113).
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Data sharing statement: The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Corresponding author: Ping Li, MM, Department of Pelvic Floor Rehabilitation, Shijiazhuang Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, No. 396 Youyi South Street, Qiaoxi District, Shijiazhuang 050000, Hebei Province, China. liping_857@163.com
Received: November 25, 2025
Revised: December 20, 2025
Accepted: December 31, 2025
Published online: March 19, 2026
Processing time: 93 Days and 23.1 Hours
Revised: December 20, 2025
Accepted: December 31, 2025
Published online: March 19, 2026
Processing time: 93 Days and 23.1 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This study demonstrates that anxiety [Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS)] and depression [Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS)] symptoms during pregnancy are significant independent risk factors for adverse neonatal outcomes, including lower Apgar scores and reduced birth weight. The SAS and SDS showed high predictive value (area under the curve: 0.958 and 0.979, respectively). The findings underscore the critical need for early screening and intervention for maternal psychological distress to improve neonatal health.