The Effect of Digital Mindfulness Interventions on Depressive, Anxiety, and Stress Symptoms in Pregnant Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Introduction . Pregnancy is a unique time in a woman's life that can be both exciting and challenging. It is also a period that can be associated with significant stress, anxiety, and depression, which can have negative consequences for both the mother and the baby. Mindfulness interventions are known to be a well-suited treatment and prevention method for psychiatric symptoms in pregnancy, and web-based applications have been explored. We here present an up-to-date systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized-controlled trials to investigate the effect of digital-based mindfulness interventions on depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms during pregnancy. Methods . The systematic literature search and data extraction was performed by two independent raters. It resulted in 13 eligible studies overall comprising 1373 participants. We conducted random-effects meta-analyses for depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms after completion of a digital mindfulness intervention (compared to a control group). Results . Digital mindfulness intervention methods were significantly able to reduce depression (g = -0.47, 95% CI [-0.9; -0.09]) and anxiety symptoms (g = -0.41, 95% CI [-0.77; -0.05]), but not stress symptoms. These effects were moderated by the attrition rate (β Depression = 0.025, p Depression < 0.01; β Anxiety = 0.022, p Anxiety < 0.01; β Stress = 0.022, p Stress < 0.01). Primiparity also had a significant influence on the intervention effect regarding depression symptoms (β = 0.033, p = 0.024). Conclusions . Digital mindfulness interventions are a promising method to reduce mental health symptoms in pregnant women. We identified certain parameters moderating this effect, for example, primiparity and the attrition rate.