Admas, Wubet Taklual, Teoh, Ai Ni, and Chonu, Gi Kunchana (2025) The effects of prenatal psychosocial work stress on adverse pregnancy outcomes: A comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health. (In Press)

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Abstract

Objective: Psychosocial work stress is a predictor of adverse pregnancy outcomes. However, there is limited comprehensive and conclusive evidence available on the associations between psychosocial work stress and adverse pregnancy outcomes. This systematic review and meta-analysis paper addressed this gap by synthesizing the available evidence.

Methods: Studies were retrieved from six electronic databases that include pregnant mothers as study population, psychosocial work stress as variable exposure, and adverse pregnancy outcomes - including pregnancy loss, gestational hypertension and diabetes mellitus, preterm birth, low birth weight, and low fetal growth - as the outcomes of interest. The quality and certainty of evidence were assessed. Depending on the study characteristics, either a fixed or random effect model was employed. Heterogeneity was assessed using I2 statistics, and further subgroup and sensitivity analysis was employed as appropriate.

Results: A total of 26 studies (N=1 346 686) were included. Psychosocial work stress decreased birth weight by 77.09 grams, increased the occurrence of preeclampsia by 50%, and preterm birth by 18% with moderate certainty of evidence, and increased the chance of pregnancy loss by 20% with low certainty of evidence. With a low grading scale, low birth weight and small-for-gestational-age had no significant association with psychosocial work stress.

Conclusions: Psychosocial work-stress increased the risks of pre-eclampsia, preterm birth, and pregnancy loss, and decreased fetus weight. Therefore, occupational therapists, employers, policy makers, and relevant stakeholders should work together to minimize the impact of psychosocial work-stress on the mother and baby.

Item ID:	85866
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1795-990X
Copyright Information:	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Date Deposited:	17 Jun 2025 22:14
FoR Codes:	42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4206 Public health > 420601 Community child health @ 30% 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5203 Clinical and health psychology > 520304 Health psychology @ 70%
SEO Codes:	20 HEALTH > 2005 Specific population health (excl. Indigenous health) > 200506 Neonatal and child health @ 30% 20 HEALTH > 2005 Specific population health (excl. Indigenous health) > 200509 Women's and maternal health @ 40% 28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280121 Expanding knowledge in psychology @ 30%
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