Longitudinal Assessment of Effort–Reward Imbalance and Job Strain Across Pregnancy: A Preliminary Study

Objectives To assess longitudinal changes in occupational effort–reward imbalance (ERI) and demand-control (DC) scores across pregnancy and examine associations with blood pressure (BP) during pregnancy. Methods A pilot repeated-measures survey was administered four times to a sample of working women across pregnancy using the ERI and DC instruments. Demographic data and blood pressure measurements were collected at each interval. Growth mixture modeling was used to examine trajectories of change in occupational characteristics. Associations with BP were examined using repeated-measures linear regression models. Results ERI model components (effort, reward, and overcommitment) all declined across pregnancy while job control remained stable. Increasing ERI trajectory was associated with higher systolic BP (b = 8.8; p