Cognitive performance and anxiety disorders in young mothers in southern Brazil: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective: To examine the association between Anxiety Disorders (AD) and cognitive performance in young mothers at 30 months postpartum. Methods:  This is a cross-sectional study nested to a follow-up study was conducted with 539 young mothers in the city of Pelotas, in southern Brazil. The ADs were evaluated with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI PLUS), cognitive performance was screened with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). We used multiple linear regression analysis to explore the association between ADs and cognitive performance. Results: The total MoCA score was associated with the following variables: marital status β= -0.86 (95%CI -1.60;-0.13), education β= 1.22 (95%CI 0.90;1.53), occupation β= 1.03 (95%CI 0.28;1.79), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) β= -2.28 (95%CI -4.07;-0.50) and at least one AD 30 months postpartum β= -0.10 (95%CI -0.20;-0.00). Together, these variables were responsible for 16% of the variance in the total MoCA score, GAD being the variable with the strongest negative association. Conclusions: The results showed that sociodemographic variables, a GAD diagnosis and the presence of at least one AD were significantly associated with low cognitive performance in young mothers at 30 months postpartum.