Simó, SandraCajiaó, JuanitaAwad Sirhan, NataliaCaparros-González, Rafael2023-07-112023-07-112022Simó, S.; Cajiao-Nieto, J.; Awad-Sirhan, N.V.; Caparros-Gonzalez, R.A. Pregnancy-Specific Stress during the First Lockdown of the COVID-19 Pandemic: ssessing Face-to-Face versus Online Recruitment. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 14102.https://repositorio.udd.cl/handle/11447/7708The study aims to assess pregnancy-specific stress among pregnant women in Spain during the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two samples of pregnant women from the south of Spain (Andalusia) were assessed using the Prenatal Distress Questionnaire (PDQ) and a sociodemographic and obstetric questionnaire. Group 1 (N = 155) was recruited face-to-face, whereas Group 2 (N = 78) was recruited online. Pregnancy-specific stress levels were significantly different in both groups. The face-to-face group (Group 1) had higher pregnancy-specific stress levels than the online group (Group 2). The online sample over-represents young adult pregnant women with high education levels and a high number of previous miscarriages. The face-to-face study seems more accessible to racially and ethnically diverse groups. The main concern among both groups was the risk of having a sick neonate. Research during the COVID-19 pandemic can benefit from using online resources to collect data to screen and identify perinatal mental health problems in a crisis environment. Nevertheless, researchers should be aware of the potential limitations this strategy can have, for example, certain groups of people may have limited access to the internet12 p.enPregnancy-specific stressCOVID-19Online surveyMaternal mental healthPerinatal mental healthArticlehttps://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192114102