2023 Volume 37 Issue 3 Pages 231-242
Purpose
Many Japanese women continue to work during pregnancy, but half of them quit work. Several symptoms and discomfort during pregnancy are known to interfere with daily life and to be a reason for taking sick leaves or retiring during pregnancy. However, little is known about the factors behind their motivation to continue working throughout pregnancy. Work engagement is a concept defined as “a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption of workers”, and can predict positive work outcomes, such as job performance, job satisfaction and motivation. This study has two hypotheses: (1) job resources would be positively associated with work engagement, and (2) the perceived symptoms during pregnancy would be negatively associated with work engagement. Then, this study aimed to explore the factors associated with work engagement among Japanese pregnant women.
Methods
Between July and November 2019, a cross-sectional study was conducted at two general hospitals in the urban area of Tokyo. Pregnant women were recruited during antenatal health check-ups and asked to answer self-administered questionnaires after obtaining written informed consent. The eligibility criteria were having a single pregnancy, being at ≥16 weeks of gestation, and being able to read and write Japanese. The outcome variable was work engagement using the 3-item version of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. Furthermore, work-related variables, such as job demands and job resources, perceived physical and mental symptoms, and demographic characteristics were obtained. To examine the relationships between the independent variables and work engagement, a bivariate analysis was conducted. Then, multivariate regression analysis was performed on the variables that were significantly associated with work engagement in the bivariate analysis.
Results
Of 252 participants at ≥16 weeks' gestation who agreed to participate, 226 completed the questionnaires. After excluding 86 women who were not working at the time of recruitment, the data of 140 working pregnant women were included in the analyses. Participants' age (mean ± standard deviation) was 33.1 ± 4.3 years, and the mean score of work engagement was 3.6 ± 1.3. The results of the multivariate analysis showed that the factors associated with a higher level of work engagement were higher supervisor support (β = 0.259, p = 0.008), higher job demands (β = 0.267, p = 0.006), higher sense of coherence (β = 0.276, p = 0.001), and higher age (β = 0.188, p = 0.024). As for the hypotheses, this study revealed that (1) job resources were positively associated with work engagement, and (2) the perceived symptoms during pregnancy were not associated with work engagement.
Conclusion
Higher supervisor support was significantly associated with a higher level of work engagement. The finding demonstrates the importance of social support in the workplace in promoting work engagement among pregnant women.
