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CME Credit Offered
CME Credit Offered
Abstract Award
Abstract Award
Recording available 2/16-5/2
Recording available 2/16-5/2
AIUM Credit
AIUM Credit
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Foundation Awardee
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Abstract Award
Abstract Award
Foundation Awardee
Foundation Awardee

Poster Session 3

Category: Perinatal Mental Health

Poster Session 3

(909) Health literacy and maternal mental health and psychosocial support

Thursday, February 12, 2026
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM  
Objective:

Maternal health literacy (HL) has been linked to perinatal and long-term health outcomes, yet its relationship with psychosocial well-being in pregnancy is not well understood. We aimed to evaluate whether HL is associated with patient-reported mental health (MH) outcomes and psychosocial support in pregnancy.


Study Design:

Secondary analysis of data from a prospective multi-site cohort of nulliparous participants enrolled at 8 US medical centers from 2010-2013. Participants completed the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine–Short Form at 16–21 weeks’ gestation, which is an appropriate proxy for pre-pregnancy HL as it is stable across pregnancy. Scores < 7 (≤8th grade reading level) were categorized as inadequate. MH and psychosocial support outcomes, assessed at study visits between 6-29 weeks’ gestation, included: moderate-to-high anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory–Trait >19), depressive symptoms (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale >9), moderate-to-high stress (Perceived Stress Scale >13), high social support (Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support >60), and good resilience (Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale >59). Multivariable logistic regression estimated adjusted odds ratios (aORs) with confidence intervals (CIs), adjusting for confounding sociodemographic factors.


Results:

Among 9,878 participants with available data, 2,175 (22%) had inadequate HL. Participants with adequate HL were older, more likely to be non-Hispanic white, privately insured, and had greater education and income. Adequate HL was associated with lower odds of anxiety (aOR 0.86, 95% CI 0.76–0.98), depressive symptoms (aOR 0.82, 95% CI 0.74–0.90), and stress (aOR 0.74, 95% CI 0.68–0.81); and higher odds of reporting high social support (aOR 1.16, 95% CI 1.00–1.34) and good resilience (aOR 1.63, 95% CI 1.28–2.07) (Table).


Conclusion:

Adequate HL was associated with better patient-reported MH and psychosocial support in pregnancy. These relationships should be further explored as HL may be a modifiable factor to test in future interventions to improve maternal MH and support in the perinatal period.