Lee B-E, Ha M, Park H, Kim Y, Hong Y-C, Kim YJ, Ha E-H. Psychosocial work stress
during pregnancy and birthweight. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology 2011; 25: 246–
254.
Although there is a growing interest in the health effects of psychosocial work stress,
studies on the relationships between job stress and adverse reproductive outcome are
limited. We, therefore, investigated the associations between prenatal maternal occupational
stress and birthweight using 310 mother–infant pairs included in the Mothers
and Children’s Environmental Health (MOCEH) study. Information on job stress was
collected by interviewing women at enrolment during the first trimester of pregnancy
using standardised questionnaires, namely, the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) of job
strain and effort–reward imbalance (ERI) questionnaires. Regression analyses were
carried out.
Decision latitude scores of the JCQ were found to be positively related to birthweight,
while ERI ratios determined using the ERI model were found to be inversely
related to gestational age. In addition, a passive job as defined by the job strain model
was found to be associated with a lower birthweight, compared with a relaxed job.
These results suggest that work-related psychosocial stress in pregnant women
appears to affect birth outcomes, such as birthweight and gestational age.