The Effects of a Workplace Intervention on Employees’ Cortisol Awakening Response

Details

• Personal Author:
  Almeida DM ; Buxton OM ; Kelly EL ; Lawson KM ; Lee, Stephen A. ; Walter KN
• Description:
  Work-related stressors are known to adversely affect employees' stress physiology, including the cortisol awakening response (CAR) - or the spike in cortisol levels shortly after people wake up that aids in mobilizing energy. A flat or blunted CAR has been linked to chronic stress and burnout. This daily diary study tested the effects of a workplace intervention on employed parents' CAR. Specifically, we tested whether the effects of the intervention on CAR were moderated by the type of days (workday versus non-work day). Data came from 94 employed parents from an information technology firm who participated in the baseline and 12-month diurnal cortisol components of the Work, Family, and Health Study, a group-randomized field experiment. The workplace intervention was designed to reduce work-family conflict (WFC) and implemented after the baseline data collection. Diurnal salivary cortisol was collected on 4 days at both baseline and 12 months. Multilevel modeling revealed that the intervention significantly increased employees' CAR at 12 months on non-workdays, but this was not evident on workdays or for employees in the usual practice condition. The results provide evidence that the intervention was effective in enhancing employees' biological stress physiology particularly during opportunities for recovery that are more likely to occur on non-work days. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Family Occupational Health Safety Sleep Stress, Psychological
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Cortisol Awakening Response CAR Daily Diary Families Hormone Activity Intervention Effectiveness Job Stress Multilevel Modeling Physiological Response Workplace Intervention
• ISSN:
  1366-8803
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Connecticut ; Indiana ; Massachusetts ; Oregon ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  151-167
• Volume:
  21
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20068940
• Citation:
  Community Work Fam 2018 Mar; 21(2):151-167
• Contact Point Address:
  David M. Almeida, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
• Email:
  dalmeida@psu.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2018
• Performing Organization:
  Portland State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050901
• Source Full Name:
  Community, Work & Family
• End Date:
  20081130
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e46767c6b70325bebb47d5859135d5c437ba2cc3d6df6a409cb34dea55ae71a0a461b4706b82bda52ec741a2d7134b1a4e51351bb0110a812900b780c82baa92
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/207503/cdc_207503_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.33 MB ]