Long Working Hours Related to Elevated Psychological Distress Among United States Pregnant Workers: Findings from the Health Interview Survey

Details

• Journal Article:
  Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Personal Author:
  Guardiano, Megan ; Xia, Tong ; Chen, Liwei ; Li, Jian
• Description:
  Long working hours and psychological distress have each been related to adverse maternal health and birth outcomes. Understanding the potential psychological health impacts of long working hours among pregnant workers may support the implementation of maternity work protections in the United States (U.S.). This cross-sectional study among a weighted sample of 3637 pregnant workers from the U.S. population-based National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) 1997-2018 aimed to examine the association of working hours with psychological distress. Multivariable linear regression models analyzed associations between categories of weekly working hours and continuous scores of psychological distress measured by the Kessler 6 (K6) scale, while accounting for demographic, socioeconomic, behavior and health characteristics. In the fully adjusted model, compared to the standard workweek of 35-40 h/week, working ≥49 h/week was associated with higher psychological distress β (SE): 0.59 (0.21); p = .0058. This initial evidence connecting excessive working hours with increased psychological distress among a U.S. sample of pregnant women supports clinical practices in prenatal assessments of occupational risk factors, and the provision of work-related resources and work accommodations. Future research is warranted to investigate potential occupational effects on maternal mental health throughout the course of pregnancy and postpartum using cohort studies. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Mental Health
  • Occupational Health
  • Occupational Stress
  • Pregnancy
  • Safety
• Keywords:
  • Long work hours
  • Pregnancy
  • National Health Interview Survey
  • NHIS
  • Mental health
  • Work schedules
  • Wellbeing
  • Psychological effects
  • Cross sectional studies
  • Epidemiology
  More +
• ISSN:
  1743-8942
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Boston Region OSHA ; California ; Massachusetts ; San Francisco Region OSHA
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  9 pdf pages
• Volume:
  46
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20071806
• Citation:
  J Psychosom Obstet Gynecol 2025 Jun; 46(1):2521780
• Contact Point Address:
  Jian Li, D650 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
• Email:
  jianli2019@ucla.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2025
• Performing Organization:
  University of California Los Angeles
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  2005/07/01
• End Date:
  2027/06/30
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/260030/cdc_260030_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.64 MB]
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c53137d3ec39904b973538bf0bba497ac7ec9068b5694d5ec89dca780f46735b962e0e73e055608c4f54911a8344b433bf817998e898a2a03d02f3f4de8fd38b