{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T04:55:20Z","timestamp":1787028920295,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,26]],"date-time":"2026-02-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772064000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"\u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy from Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medicina"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Objectives: Pregnancy is associated with profound physical and psychological changes in a woman\u2019s life. Psychological distress and medical comorbidities during pregnancy remain under recognized despite their potential impact on maternal well-being. This study aimed to examine the associations between psychological distress, physical and mental components of health-related quality of life (HRQoL), lifestyle factors (alcohol and tobacco use), and the presence of medical comorbidities in pregnant women. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among pregnant women in the second and third trimesters admitted to a tertiary obstetrics and gynecology center in Romania. Psychological distress was assessed using the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) Global Severity Index (GSI), while health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was evaluated with the Short Form Health Survey-36 items (SF-36) physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) Component Summary scores. Alcohol and tobacco use were assessed using Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test\u2014Consumption (AUDIT-C) and the Fagerstr\u00f6m Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND). Nonparametric tests were used for correlation and group-comparison analyses. Results: Among the 337 valid answers, higher psychological distress was significantly associated with lower physical (R = \u22120.16, p &lt; 0.01) and mental (R = \u22120.26, p &lt; 0.01) HRQoL. Pregnant women with medical comorbidities reported higher psychological distress and poorer physical HRQoL compared with those without comorbidities, while mental HRQoL did not differ significantly. Alcohol and tobacco use were not significantly associated with HRQoL or psychological distress. Conclusions: Psychological distress is a central factor associated with both physical and mental quality of life during pregnancy. Integrating routine mental health screening into antenatal care, particularly for women with medical comorbidities, may improve maternal well-being and support better pregnancy outcomes.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina62030445","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,26]],"date-time":"2026-02-26T13:58:03Z","timestamp":1772114283000},"page":"445","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Health-Related Quality of Life in Pregnancy Associated with Psychological Distress"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"62","author":[{"given":"Brenda-Cristiana","family":"Bernad","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neuroscience, Doctoral School, Centre for Neuropsychology and Behavioural Medicine, Multidisciplinary Heart Research Centre, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy from Timi\u0219oara, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2117-0474","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mirela-Cleopatra","family":"Tomescu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Centre for Multidisciplinary Heart Research, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy from Timi\u0219oara, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"},{"name":"Cardiology Clinics, Timi\u0219oara Clinical Municipal Emergency Hospital, 300040 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dana Emilia","family":"Velimirovici","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cardiology, \u201cVictor Babes\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"},{"name":"Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases Timi\u0219oara, 300310 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Minodora","family":"Andor","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Centre for Multidisciplinary Heart Research, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy from Timi\u0219oara, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"},{"name":"Cardiology Clinics, Timi\u0219oara Clinical Municipal Emergency Hospital, 300040 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0274-1377","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Diana","family":"Lungeanu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Modeling Biological Systems and Data Analysis, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy from Timi\u0219oara, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0136-1142","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Virgil","family":"En\u0103tescu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neuroscience, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy from Timi\u0219oara, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"},{"name":"Clinic of Psychiatry, \u201cPius Br\u00eenzeu\u201d County Clinical Emergency Hospital, 300723 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4009-2248","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andreea Luciana","family":"Rata","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Surgical Emergencies, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy from Timi\u0219oara, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Vascular Surgery, \u201cPius Br\u00eenzeu\u201d County Clinical Emergency Hospital, 300723 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sergiu-Florin","family":"Arnautu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Centre for Cognitive Research in Neuropsychiatric Pathology, Centre for Multidisciplinary Heart Research, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy from Timi\u0219oara, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1084-2714","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elena Silvia","family":"Bernad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Laparoscopy, Laparoscopic Surgery and In Vitro Fertilization, Centre for Neuropsychology and Behavioural Medicine, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy from Timi\u0219oara, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"},{"name":"First Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Laparoscopy, In Vitro Fertilization and Embryotransfer Research Center, \u201cPius Br\u00eenzeu\u201d County Clinical Emergency Hospital, 300723 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-9396-0321","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Oana","family":"Neda-Stepan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neuroscience, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy from Timi\u0219oara, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"},{"name":"Clinic of Psychiatry, \u201cPius Br\u00eenzeu\u201d County Clinical Emergency Hospital, 300723 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2185-3008","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lavinia","family":"Hogea","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neuroscience, Centre for Neuropsychology and Behavioural Medicine, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d 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