Women with nonorganic psychosis: factors associated with pregnancy's effect on mental health

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Abstract
ABSTRACT– Pregnancy's effect on mental health during pregnancy was studied in relation to 17 variables representing the pregnant woman's demographic, social, material, physical and attitudinal characteristics, in an attempt to explain the highly varied effect of pregnancy on mental health which had been observed both among 88 index women with a history of nonorganic psychosis and among 104 demographically similar pregnant control women. Little explanation or predictability was found for the varied effect of pregnancy. Among index cases, only maternal age and the experienced effect of pregnancy on physical health were significantly related to its effect on mental health. In controls, the presence of material‐situational problems and a negative/ambivalent initial reaction to pregnancy were each related to increased change in mental health, i.e. to both improvement and worsening in mental health associated with pregnancy.