5. Conclusions
depression, anxiety, depressive symptoms
ADVERSE EFFECTS
Our study offers novel insights concerning the psychological impact of the first-trimester screening for PE. The findings revealed that, overall, pregnant women had positive attitudes towards PE screening, and that the pregnancy experiences of those identified to be at high risk following the first-trimester PE screening were comparable to those identified as low risk. High-risk women reported more positive health behaviour changes compared to low-risk women subsequent to the positive test result, but this was moderated by the depression levels. Although no adverse effects of the “high-risk status” for anxiety, physical and mental health, and worry were identified, there was a transient increase in depressive symptoms in the second trimester of pregnancy among the high-risk women. Future studies conducted in routine clinical practice and utilising larger and more diverse samples would provide a definitive answer as to whether this increase in depressive symptoms is indeed of a transient nature or not.