Association between pregnancy intention and psychological distress among women exposed to different levels of restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia

The aims of the project were to examine the association between pregnancy intention and psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, and to explore whether this association differed based on local viral transmission rates and corresponding levels of pandemic restrictions. <br><br>Data were from a cross-sectional survey conducted between 15 October and 7 November 2020. Women of reproductive age (18 to 50 years) who resided in Australia were contacted via targeted emails by an external cross-panel market research provider. Following online consent, participants were asked to complete an anonymous 10-minute online survey including a series of short answer and multiple-choice questions. <br><br>The study population is broadly representative of the Australian population of women of reproductive age in terms of age distribution and residential location (state/territory). <br><br>The study was approved by the Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee (MUHREC project: 25941). <br><br>A total of 1,005 women completed the survey. For the current project, women were excluded if they were unsure or did not want to disclose their pregnancy intention (n = 74); were pregnant (n = 32); or had a baby in the last 12 months (n = 50). A total of 849 participants were included for analysis.