Persistent anxiety linked to cognitive lapses

Women with consistently higher anxiety symptoms reported more forgetfulness, distractibility, and unintended actions during pregnancy and early postpartum.

By
Andrea Surnit
October 28, 2026
4 min

MDSpire News

Objective:

To examine associations between anxiety, depressive symptoms, physical activity, and self-reported cognitive difficulties during pregnancy and early postpartum.

Approach:

Participants and timing: Longitudinal study of 56 pregnant women in central Pennsylvania assessed at 28–30 weeks’ gestation; 46 completed follow-up about 6 weeks postpartum.
Measures and analysis: Questionnaires assessed cognitive failures, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and weekly leisure-time physical activity. General linear models examined associations and exploratory analyses tested whether activity modified mood–cognition relationships.

Key Findings:

Women with consistently higher anxiety reported greater cognitive difficulties than those with consistently lower anxiety during pregnancy and postpartum.
Higher depressive symptoms were associated with more cognitive difficulties; differences in total cognitive failures were statistically significant postpartum, while forgetfulness and unintended actions were higher among women with persistently elevated sympto…
Meeting physical activity guidelines was not independently associated with statistically significant differences in cognitive functioning.
Prenatal physical activity significantly modified the association between depressive symptoms and cognitive failures: the increase in failures with depressive symptoms was slower among women meeting activity guidelines. The prenatal activity–anxiety interactio…
Postpartum, the anxiety–cognitive failure association increased more slowly among women who did not meet activity guidelines; the interaction between postpartum activity and depressive symptoms was not significant.

Interpretation:

The authors reported associations between mood symptoms and self-reported cognitive difficulties, with exploratory results suggesting that physical activity may modify these relationships differently during pregnancy and postpartum. The findings do not establish a protective effect of activity or a causal relationship.

Limitations:

Small, predominantly White and relatively well-educated sample limits generalizability.
Physical activity and cognition were self-reported rather than objectively measured.
Analyses did not adjust for potential confounders including sleep quality, perceived stress, social support, age, or parity.
Mood groups were based on sample medians rather than clinical diagnostic thresholds.
Observational design prevents causal conclusions.

Conclusion:

The authors called for further research on potential moderators of the physical activity–cognition relationship, including sleep and social support. The study was supported in part by Pennsylvania State University’s College of Health and Human Development Seed Grant Program; the authors declared no conflicts of interest.