Marchand Alain, Durand Pierre, Juster Robert-Paul, Lupien Sonia J
School of Industrial Relations, University of Montreal, C.P. 6128, Succ Centre-ville, Montréal, Quebec, Canada H3C 3J7.
Scand J Work Environ Health. 2014 May 1;40(3):305-14. doi: 10.5271/sjweh.3417. Epub 2014 Jan 27.
This study investigated whether self-reported psychological distress and depressive and burnout symptoms were associated with cortisol concentrations among workers.
Day-shift workers (N=401) employed in 34 diverse workplaces in Canada participated. We administered well-validated questionnaires and collected salivary cortisol concentrations at five time points (awakening, 30 minutes after awakening, 14:00 hours, 16:00 hours, and bedtime) repeated three times a week (Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday) to capture work and non-workday variation. Multilevel regressions models estimated cortisol concentrations at different levels according to time of day, workers, and workplaces.
After controlling for awakening time, sex, age, season of sampling, alcohol use, physical activity, psychotropic drugs use, health conditions, and body mass index, results revealed significant associations between psychological distress and depressive and burnout symptoms in relation to cortisol concentrations at different diurnal time points. Specifically, higher levels of psychological distress and depressive symptoms were associated with higher cortisol concentrations at awakening but not 30 minutes afterwards. Starting steadily from 14:00 hours until bedtime, levels of psychological distress and depressive and burnout symptoms were associated with lower cortisol concentrations. Significant cortisol variations were also found between workplaces. Sex did not moderate associations in secondary analyses.
Distinct time points of diurnal cortisol variation were consistently, albeit modestly, associated with increased psychological distress and depressive and burnout symptoms. Our findings therefore link subjective psychometrics with objective biometrics. This research area could potentially lead to the development of refined screening tools that provide correspondence between diurnal cortisol and mental health.
本研究调查了自我报告的心理困扰、抑郁和倦怠症状是否与工人的皮质醇浓度相关。
加拿大34个不同工作场所的日班工人（N = 401）参与了研究。我们发放了经过充分验证的问卷，并在五个时间点（醒来时、醒来后30分钟、14:00、16:00和就寝时间）收集唾液皮质醇浓度，每周重复三次（周六、周二、周四），以捕捉工作日和非工作日的变化。多层次回归模型根据一天中的时间、工人和工作场所估计不同水平的皮质醇浓度。
在控制了醒来时间、性别、年龄、采样季节、饮酒、身体活动、精神药物使用、健康状况和体重指数后，结果显示心理困扰、抑郁和倦怠症状与不同昼夜时间点的皮质醇浓度之间存在显著关联。具体而言，较高水平的心理困扰和抑郁症状与醒来时较高的皮质醇浓度相关，但醒来后30分钟则不然。从14:00开始直到就寝时间，心理困扰、抑郁和倦怠症状的水平与较低的皮质醇浓度相关。不同工作场所之间也发现了显著的皮质醇差异。在二次分析中，性别并未调节这种关联。
昼夜皮质醇变化的不同时间点始终与心理困扰、抑郁和倦怠症状的增加存在关联，尽管这种关联程度适中。因此，我们的研究结果将主观心理测量学与客观生物测量学联系起来。这一研究领域可能会促成更精细筛查工具的开发，这些工具能在昼夜皮质醇与心理健康之间建立对应关系。
