Relationship between effort-reward imbalance and hair cortisol concentration in female kindergarten teachers

Xingliang Qi; Jing Zhang; Yapeng Liu; Shuang Ji; Zheng Chen; Judith K Sluiter; Huihua Deng

doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2014.01.008

Relationship between effort-reward imbalance and hair cortisol concentration in female kindergarten teachers

J Psychosom Res. 2014 Apr;76(4):329-32. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2014.01.008. Epub 2014 Feb 10.

Authors

Xingliang Qi¹, Jing Zhang¹, Yapeng Liu¹, Shuang Ji¹, Zheng Chen¹, Judith K Sluiter², Huihua Deng³

Affiliations

¹ Research Center for Learning Science, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China.
² Coronel Institute of Occupational Health, Academic Medical Center, P.O. Box 22700, 1100 DE Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
³ Research Center for Learning Science, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 24630185
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2014.01.008

Abstract

Objective: The present study aims to investigate the relationship between effort-reward imbalance and hair cortisol concentration among teachers to examine whether hair cortisol can be a biomarker of chronic work stress.

Methods: Hair samples were collected from 39 female teachers from three kindergartens. Cortisol was extracted from the hair samples with methanol, and cortisol concentrations were measured with high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Work stress was measured using the effort-reward imbalance scale.

Results: The ratio of effort to reward showed significantly positive association with hair cortisol concentration.

Conclusion: The cortisol concentration in the system increases with the effort-reward imbalance. Measurement of hair cortisol can become a useful biomarker of chronic work stress.

Keywords: Effort–reward imbalance; Hair cortisol concentration; Work characteristics; Work stress.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
China / epidemiology
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
Faculty*
Female
Hair / metabolism*
Humans
Hydrocortisone / metabolism*
Reward*
Stress, Psychological / diagnosis
Stress, Psychological / epidemiology
Stress, Psychological / metabolism*
Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Substances

Hydrocortisone