Relationship Between Cognitive Flexibility, Pregnancy-Related Anxiety, and Attentional Functions in Pregnant Women

Introduction: This study aimed to examine cognitive flexibility and pregnancy-related anxiety among pregnant women and to explore their relationships with attentional functions during pregnancy.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 125 pregnant women attending the Family Medicine Outpatient Clinic of Gaziosmanpaa Training and Research Hospital.Data were collected using a descriptive information form, the cognitive flexibility inventory (CFI), the pregnancy-related anxiety scale (PRAS), and verbal fluency tests (phonemic and semantic).Results: Participants had a mean age of 28.56.01 years (range: 18-44).The mean total number of words produced in verbal fluency tests was 70.9524.0.The mean PRAS score was 70.8614.20,reflecting low-to-moderate anxiety levels.Their mean CFI score was 68.6510.66,suggesting moderate-to-good cognitive flexibility.PRAS and CFI scores were negatively correlated (r: -0.238, p=0.008), while CFI scores were positively correlated with total word count (r: 0.299, p=0.001).Participants who reported persistent attention difficulties and forgetfulness had significantly higher PRAS scores than those without these complaints (p=0.010 for attention difficulties and p=0.011 for forgetfulness). Conclusion:Pregnant women in this study exhibited low-to-moderate pregnancy-related anxiety and moderate-to-good cognitive flexibility.Higher cognitive flexibility was significantly associated with lower anxiety and better verbal fluency.Although no direct link was found between anxiety and verbal fluency, self-reported attentional difficulties were associated with higher anxiety and reduced cognitive flexibility.These findings suggest that cognitive flexibility may act as a protective factor during pregnancy and may represent a promising target for prenatal mental health interventions.