Landolt Kathleen, Maruff Paul, Horan Ben, Kingsley Michael, Kinsella Glynda, O'Halloran Paul D, Hale Matthew W, Wright Bradley J
School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, 3086, Australia.
The Florey Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2017 Oct;84:151-158. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.07.238. Epub 2017 Jul 14.
The inverse relationship between acute stress and decision-making is well documented, but few studies have investigated the impact of chronic stress. Jockeys work exhaustive schedules and have extremely dangerous occupations, with safe performance requiring quick reaction time and accurate decision-making. We used the effort reward imbalance (ERI) occupational stress model to assess the relationship of work stress with indices of stress physiology and decision-making and reaction time. Jockeys (N=32) completed computerised cognitive tasks (Cogstate) on two occasions; September and November (naturally occurring lower and higher stress periods), either side of an acute stress test. Higher ERI was correlated with the cortisol awakening responses (high stress r=-0.37; low stress r=0.36), and with decrements in decision-making comparable to having a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 in the high stress period (p<0.001) The LF/HF ratio of heart rate variability impacted the association of ERI with decision-making. Potentially, this may be attributed to a 'tipping point' whereby the higher ERI reported by jockeys in the high stress period decreases vagal tone, which may contribute to reduced decision-making abilities.
急性应激与决策之间的负相关关系已有充分记载，但很少有研究调查慢性应激的影响。骑师的工作时间安排繁重，职业极其危险，安全表现需要快速反应时间和准确决策。我们使用努力回报失衡（ERI）职业应激模型来评估工作压力与应激生理学指标、决策和反应时间之间的关系。骑师（N = 32）在两个时间段完成了计算机化认知任务（Cogstate）；9月和11月（自然出现的低应激期和高应激期），处于急性应激测试的两侧。较高的ERI与皮质醇觉醒反应相关（高应激时r = -0.37；低应激时r = 0.36），并且在高应激期决策能力的下降程度相当于血液酒精浓度为0.08时的情况（p < 0.001）。心率变异性的低频/高频比值影响了ERI与决策之间的关联。这可能归因于一个“临界点”，即骑师在高应激期报告的较高ERI会降低迷走神经张力，这可能导致决策能力下降。
