ReviewJournal of assisted reproduction and genetics
Stress and reproductive failure: past notions, present insights and future directions.
Review in Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 69 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
69 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Prevalence of psychological problems among individuals and couples during assisted reproductive technology(ART) treatment: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2025Pooled it
- Sleep disturbances and female infertility: a systematic review.BMC women's health · 2024Pooled it
- WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region: A Systematic Review on Environmental Noise and Adverse Birth Outcomes.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2017Pooled it
- Reproductive outcomes associated with noise exposure - a systematic review of the literature.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2014Pooled it
- Home ovulation tests and stress in women trying to conceive: a randomized controlled trial.Human reproduction (Oxford, England) · 2013Trial
- Social subordination produces distinct stress-related phenotypes in female rhesus monkeys.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2012Trial
- Home ovulation test use and stress during subfertility evaluation: Subarm of a randomized controlled trial.Women's health (London, England)Trial
- Trauma, Stress, and Reproductive Health: A Bio-Psycho-Social Perspective on Violence Exposure in Immigrant Women.Research in nursing & health · 2026Article
- Elevated zygotic let-7f-5p alters developmental trajectories and sex-specific somatic growth.iScience · 2026Article
- Cortisol-to-cortisone ratio postpartum is associated with anti-Müllerian hormone a decade later: evidence from a prospective study.Endocrine connections · 2026Article
- The impact of infertility-related stress, physiological stress and some fertility indices on clinical pregnancy in women undergoing in vitro fertilization.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Is there evidence for the Bruce effect in white-faced capuchins?Animal behaviour · 2025Article
- Late bedtime was associated with increased androgen and reduced lean mass in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a cross-sectional study.Journal of ovarian research · 2025Article
- Depletion ofInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Preoperative ultrasound risk factors for peripartum hysterectomy among PAS suspected pregnancies.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- The effect of environmental stressors on anti-mullerian hormone levels in Lebanese women: a retrospective study.PloS one · 2025Article
- Armed Conflict and Pregnancy Termination: Evidence from Burkina Faso.Spatial demography · 2024Article
- Effects of Geometric Sound on Brainwave Activity Patterns, Autonomic Nervous System Markers, Emotional Response, and Faraday Wave Pattern Morphology.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2024Article
- The association of Life's Simple 7 and infertility among U.S. women.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Article
- Relationship between sleep disorders and female infertility among US reproductive-aged women.Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung · 2023Article
9 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
problemMaternal stress perception is frequently alleged as a cause of infertility, miscarriages, late pregnancy complications or impaired fetal development. The purpose of the present review is to critically assess the biological and epidemiological evidence that considers the plausibility of a stress link to human reproductive failure.
methodsAll epidemiological studies published between 1980 and 2007 that tested the link between stress exposure and impaired reproductive success in humans were identified. Study outcomes were evaluated on the basis of how associations were predicted, tested and integrated with theories of etiology arising from recent scientific developments in the basic sciences. Further, published evidence arising from basic science research has been assessed in order to provide a mechanistic concept and biological evidence for the link between stress perception and reproductive success.
resultsBiological evidence points to an immune-endocrine disequilibrium in response to stress and describes a hierarchy of biological mediators involved in a stress trigger to reproductive failure. Epidemiological evidence presents positive correlations between various pregnancy failure outcomes with pre-conception negative life events and elevated daily urinary cortisol. Strikingly, a relatively new conceptual approach integrating the two strands of evidence suggests the programming of stress susceptibility in mother and fetus via a so-called pregnancy stress syndrome.
conclusionsAn increasing specificity of knowledge is available about the types and impact of biological and social pathways involved in maternal stress responses. The present evidence is sufficient to warrant a reconsideration of conventional views on the etiology of reproductive failure. Physicians and patients will benefit from the adaptation of this integrated evidence to daily clinical practice.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.