Sumner Rachel C, Gallagher Stephen
a School of Health & Social Care , University of Gloucestershire , Cheltenham , UK.
b Laboratory for the Study of Anxiety, Stress & Health (SASHLab), Department of Psychology , University of Limerick , Limerick , Republic of Ireland.
Psychol Health. 2017 Mar;32(3):289-311. doi: 10.1080/08870446.2016.1247841. Epub 2016 Oct 21.
Unemployment is a type of chronic stressor that impacts human health. The reasons for how the stress of unemployment affect health is still a matter of discussion. One of the pathways from chronic stress to ill health is mediated by cortisol, and so we set out to compile extant data on how its secretion is affected by unemployment.
A systematic literature search was conducted to establish the cortisol dysregulatory effects of this stressor.
Only studies that specifically examined the effects of unemployment on cortisol excretion, and were written in English were included.
Ten reports were obtained and synthesised to determine the severity and complexity of the effect of unemployment on cortisol secretion. The resulting combined evidence is mixed in terms of degree or dynamic of relationship.
The differences between the cumulate findings of the studies can be understood in the context of the lack of both standardised methodology and an absence of consensus on unemployment definition. We propose existing methodologies may be strengthened by acknowledging and accounting for the individual characteristics that may be relevant to the stress experience of unemployment.
失业是一种影响人类健康的慢性应激源。失业压力如何影响健康的原因仍在讨论之中。从慢性应激到健康不佳的途径之一是由皮质醇介导的，因此我们着手汇编关于失业如何影响其分泌的现有数据。
进行了一项系统的文献检索，以确定这种应激源对皮质醇调节的影响。
仅纳入专门研究失业对皮质醇排泄影响且以英文撰写的研究。
获得并综合了十份报告，以确定失业对皮质醇分泌影响的严重程度和复杂性。所得综合证据在关系程度或动态方面参差不齐。
鉴于缺乏标准化方法以及对失业定义缺乏共识，研究的累积结果之间的差异是可以理解的。我们建议，通过承认并考虑到可能与失业应激体验相关的个体特征，现有方法可能会得到加强。
