Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-cfpbc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T19:26:18.067Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Endocrine and Mood Responses to two Working Days in Female Teachers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2014

Miguel Angel Serrano ,
Luís Moya-Albiol  and
Alicia Salvador
Miguel Angel Serrano*
Affiliation:
Universitat de Valencia (Spain)
Luís Moya-Albiol
Affiliation:
Universitat de Valencia (Spain)
Alicia Salvador
Affiliation:
Universitat de Valencia (Spain)
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Miguel A. Serrano Rosa. Departamento de Psicobiología. Facultad de Psicología. Universitat de València. Avda. Blasco Ibáñez, 21. 46010. Valencia (Spain). Phone: +34–963983456. E-mail: maserrar@uv.es
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Currently, a considerable amount of work stress is present in school teachers, one of the occupational groups with the highest levels of job strain and burnout. As chronic stress produces significant modifications in emotional adjustment and neuroendocrine functioning, we aimed to investigate the role of these work stress constructs in the endocrine and mood responses of a group of female teachers during two working days (WD) at different moments in the academic year. We studied mood as well as levels of cortisol and testosterone, representative of a predominant catabolic or anabolic balance. Our results showed that higher “control” was associated with higher positive mood (p = .028 on WD1 and p = .057 on WD2) and salivary testosterone (Tsal) (p = .022 on WD1), whereas “demands” and “total job strain” were related to negative mood (p = .011 and p = .015, respectively). Participants with higher scores on “total burnout” and “emotional exhaustion” also had higher negative mood (p < .05 in all cases). Depersonalization correlated positively with negative mood (p = .019 and p = .006 on WD1 and WD2, respectively). Finally, personal accomplishment showed an inverse relationship with negative mood (p = .038 on WD2). These results are useful for job risk prevention and interventions that should focus on the control dimension of the job strain questionnaire and on personal accomplishment from the burnout scale.

Keywords

work stresscortisoltestosteronemoodteachers
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 17 , 2014 , E25
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adlercreutz, H., Härkönen, M., Kuoppasalami, K., Näveri, H., Huhtaniemi, Y., Tikkanen, H., ... Kervonen, J. (1986). Effect of training on plasma anabolic and catabolic steroid hormones and their response during physical exercise. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 7, 27–28.http://dx.doi.org/10.1055/s-2008-1025798 Google Scholar
Alderling, M., Theorell, T., de la Torre, B., & Lundberg, I. (2006). The demand control model and circadian saliva cortisol variations in a Swedish population based sample (the PART study). BMC Public Health, 6, 288–295. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-6-288 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Almela, M., Hidalgo, V., Villada, C., Espín, L., Gómez-Amor, J., & Salvador, A. (2011). The impact of cortisol reactivity to acute stress on memory: Sex differences in middle-aged people. Stress, 14, 117–127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Asberg, M., Nygren, A., Leopardi, R., Rylander, G., Peterson, U., Wilczek, L., … Ekman, R. (2009). Novel biochemical markers of psychosocial stress in women. PLoS one, 4, 3590. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003590 Google Scholar
Chandola, T., Heraclides, A., & Kurami, M. (2010). Psychosocial biomarkers of workplace stressors. Neurosciencie and Biobehavioral Reviews, 35, 51–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2009.11.005 Google Scholar
Chiang, F. F. T., Birtch, T. A., & Kwan, H. K. (2010). The moderating roles of job control and work-life balance practices on employee stress in the hotel and catering industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 29, 25–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2009.04.005 Google Scholar
Chida, Y., & Steptoe, A. (2009). Cortisol awakening response and psychosocial factors: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Biological Psychology, 80, 265–278. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2008.10.004 Google Scholar
Dahlgren, A., Kecklund, G., Theorell, T., & Akerstedt, T. (2009). Day-to-day variation in saliva cortisol-relation with sleep, stress and self-rated health. Biological Psychology, 82, 149–155. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2009.07.001 Google Scholar
Danhof-Pont, M., Van Heen, T., & Zitman, F. G. (2011). Biomarkers in burnout: A systematic review. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 70, 505–524. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2010.10.012 Google Scholar
Davydov, D. M., Shapiro, D., Goldstein, ., & Chicz-DeMet, A. (2007). Moods in everyday situations: Effects of combinations of different arousal-related factors. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 62, 321–329. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2006.10.021 Google Scholar
Denson, T. F., Spanovic, M., & Miller, N. (2009). Cognitive appraisals and emotions predict cortisol and immune responses: A meta-analysis of acute laboratory social stressors and emotion inductions. Psychological Bulletin, 135, 823–853. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0016909 Google Scholar
Demirtas, Z. (2010). Teachers’s job satisfaction levels. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 9, 1069–1073. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.12.287 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeVries, A., Glasper, E. R., & Detillion, C. E. (2003). Social modulation of stress responses. Physiology & Behavior, 79, 399–407. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9384(03)00152-5 Google Scholar
Evolahti, A., Hultcrantz, M., & Collins, A. (2006). Women’s work stress and cortisol levels: A longitudinal study of the association between the psychosocial work environment and serum cortisol. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 61, 645–652. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2006.07.022 Google Scholar
Fernet, C., Guay, F., & Senécal, C. (2004). Adjusting to job demands: The role of work self-determination and job control in predicting burnout. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 65, 39–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0001-8791(03)00098-8 Google Scholar
Garrosa, E., Rainho, C., Moreno-Jiménez, B., & Monteiro, M. J. (2010). The relationships between job stressors, hardy personality, coping resources and burnout in a simple of nurses: A correlational study at two time points. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 47, 205–215. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2009.05.014 Google Scholar
Gendolla, G. H. E., Richter, M., & Silvia, P. J. (2008). Self-focus and task difficulty effects of effort-related cardiovascular reactivity. Psychophysiology, 45, 653–662. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.2008.00655.x Google Scholar
González-Bono, E., Salvador, A., Serrano, M. A., & Ricarte, J. (1999). Testosterone, cortisol and mood in sports team competition. Hormones & Behavior, 35, 55–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/hbeh.1998.1496 Google Scholar
Hakanen, J. J., Bakker, A. B., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2006). Burnout and work engagement among teachers. Journal of School Psychology, 43, 495–513. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2005.11.001 Google Scholar
Hallman, T., Perski, A., Burell, G., Lisspers, J., & Setterlind, S. (2002). Perspectives on differences in perceived external stress: A study of women and men with coronary heart disease. Stress & Health, 18, 105–118. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/smi.931 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hansen, A. M., Larsen, A. D., Rugulies, R., Garde, A. H., & Knudsen, L. E. (2009). A review of the effect of the psychosocial working environment on physiological changes in blood and urine. Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology, 105, 73–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1742-7843.2009.00444.x Google Scholar
Hausser, J. A., Mojzisch, A., & Schulz-Hardt, S. (2011). Endocrinological and psychosocial responses to job stressors: An experimental test of the job demand-control model. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 36, 1021–1031. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2010.12.016 Google Scholar
Hokonen, T., Ahola, K., Pertovaara, M., Isometä, E., Kalimo, R., Nykyri, E., … Lönnqvist, J. (2006). The association between burnout and physical illness in the general population-results from the Finnish Health 2000 Study. Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine, 61, 59–66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2005.10.002 Google Scholar
Karasek, R., & Theorell, T. (1990). Healthy work: Stress, productivity, and the reconstruction of working life. New York, NY: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Kokkinos, C. M. (2007). Job stressors, personality and burnout in primary school teachers. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 77, 229–243. http://dx.doi.org/10.1348/000709905X90344 Google Scholar
Kirschbaum, C., Wust, S., & Hellhammer, D. (1992). Consistent sex differences in cortisol responses to psychological stress. Psychosomatic Medicine, 54, 648–657.Google Scholar
Kudielka, B. M., Hellhammer, D. H., & Wüst, S. (2009). Why do we respond so differently? Reviewing determinants of human salivary cortisol responses to challenge. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 34, 2–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2008.10.004 Google Scholar
Kunz-Ebrecht, S. R., Kirschbaum, C., Marmot, M., & Steptoe, A. (2004). Differences in cortisol awakening response on work days and weekends in women and men from the Whitehall II cohort. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 29, 516–528. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0306-4530(03)00072-6 Google Scholar
Lee, R. T., & Ashforth, B. E. (1996). A meta-analytic examination of the correlates of the three dimensions of job burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81, 123–133. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.81.2.123 Google Scholar
Leonard, B. (2000). Stress, depression and the activation of the immune system. World Journal of Biological Psychology, 1, 17–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/15622970009150562 Google Scholar
Liu, X. S., & Ramsey, J. (2008). Teachers’ job satisfaction: Analysis of the teacher follow-up survey in the United States for 2000–2001. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24, 1173–1184. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2006.11.010 Google Scholar
Liu, X. S., & Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2012). Chinese teachers’ work stress and their turnover intention. International Journal of Educational Research, 53, 160–170. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2012.03.006 Google Scholar
Lundberg, U. (2005). Stress hormones in health and illness: The roles of work and gender. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 30, 1017–1021. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2005.03.014 Google Scholar
Maslach, C., Leiter, M. P., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2008) Measuring burnout. In Cooper, C. L., & Cartwright, S. (Eds). The Oxford handbook of organizational well-being. (pp. 86–108). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Maslach, C., & Jackson, S. E. (1986). Maslach Burnout Inventory Manual. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.Google Scholar
McEwen, B. (1998). Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators. New England Journal of Medicine, 338, 171–179.Google Scholar
Melamed, S., Ugarten, U., Shirom, A., Kahana, L., Lerman, Y., & Froom, P. (1999). Chronic burnout, somatic arousal and elevated salivary cortisol levels. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 46, 591–598. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3999(99)00007-0 Google Scholar
Mommersteeg, P. M., Heijnen, C. J., Kavelaars, A., & van Doornen, L. J. (2007). The HPA-axis and immune function in burnout. Progress in Brain Research, 167, 281–285. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0079-6123(07)67024-1 Google Scholar
Moreno-Jimenez, B., Rodríguez-Carvajal, , & Escobar, E. (2001). La evaluación del burnout profesional factorialización del MBI-GS. Un análisis preliminar [Professional burnout evaluation. MBI-GS factorialization. A preliminar analysis]. Ansiedad y Estrés, 7, 69–78.Google Scholar
Moya-Albiol, L., Serrano, M. A., Salvador, A., González-Bono, E., & Rodríguez-Alarcón, G. (2005). Respuesta psicofisiológica de estrés en una jornada laboral [Psychophysiological response to stress in a working day]. Psicothema, 17, 205–211.Google Scholar
Moya-Albiol, L., Serrano, M. A., & Salvador, A. (2010). Burnout as an important factor in the psychophysiological responses to a work day in teachers. Stress & Health, 26, 382–393. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/smi.1309 Google Scholar
Pablos-Abellá, C., Navarro-Cabello, E., Salvador, A., Benavent-Mahiques, J., González-Bono, E., Chillarón-García, E., … Martí-Calatayud, M. T. (1999). Efectos sobre la mejoría de la fuerza y el ratio testosterona/cortisol de dos métdos de entrenamiento de fuerza explosiva del tren inferior en el periodo competitivo de deportes de equipo. [Effects on the improvement of the strength and the ratio testosterone / cortisol with two training methods of lower body explosive strength in the period competitive team sports] In Hernández-Vázquez, J. L. (Ed.), Efectos e implicaciones de variables fisiológicas sobre el entrenamiento [Effects and implications of physiological variables in training] (pp. 95–132). Madrid, Spain: Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia. Consejo superior de Deportes.Google Scholar
Ritvanen, T., Louhevaara, V., Helin, P., Väisänen, S., & Hänninen, O. (2006). Responses of the autonomic nervous system during periods of perceived high and low work stress in younger and older female teachers. Applied Ergonomics, 37, 311–318. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2005.06.013 Google Scholar
Salvador, A., & Costa, R. (2009). Coping with competition: Neuroendocrine responses and cognitive variables. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 33, 160–170. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2008.09.005 Google Scholar
Sandín, B., Chorot, P., Lostao, L., Joiner, T. E., Santed, M. A., & Valiente, R. M. (1999). Escalas de afecto positivo y negativo: Validación factorial y convergencia estructural [Positive and negative affect scales: Factorial validation and structural convergence]. Psicothema, 11, 37–51.Google Scholar
Serrano, M. A., Moya-Albiol, L., & Salvador, A. (2008). The role of gender in teachers’ perceived stress and heart rate. Journal of Psychophysiology, 22, 58–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.1027/0269-8803.22.1.58 Google Scholar
Serrano, M. A., Moya-Albiol, L., & Salvador, A. (2009). Estrés laboral y salud: Indicadores cardiovasculares y endocrinos. [Work stress and health: cardiovascular and endocrinological variables] Anales de Psicología, 5, 150–159.Google Scholar
Serrano, M. A., Moya-Albiol, L., & Salvador, A. (2013). Psychobiological responses at the beginning and the end of an academic year in teachers. Anales de Psicología, 29(2), 590–597. http://dx.doi.org/10.6018/analesps.29.2.148211 Google Scholar
Shirom, A. (2003). Job-related burnout: A review. In Quick, J. C. & Tetrick, L. E., (Eds.), Handbook of occupational health psychology. (pp. 245–264). Washington, DC: APA. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/10474-012 Google Scholar
Steptoe, A., Cropley, M., Griffith, J., & Joekes, K. (1999). The influence of abdominal obesity and chronic work stress on ambulatory blood pressure in men and women. International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders, 23, 1184–1191. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038%2Fsj.ijo.0801054 Google Scholar
Steptoe, A., Cropley, M., Griffith, J., & Kirschbaum, D. (2000). Job strain and anger expression predict early morning elevations in salivary cortisol. Psychosomatic Medicine, 62, 286–292.Google Scholar
Stoeber, J., & Rennert, D. (2008). Perfectionism in school teachers: Relations with stress appraisals, coping styles, and burnout. Anxiety, Stress & Coping, 21, 37–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10615800701742461 Google Scholar
Vedhara, K., Miles, J., Bennett, P., Plummer, S., Tallon, D., Brooks, E., … Farndon, J. (2003). An investigation into the relationship between salivary cortisol, stress, anxiety and depression. Biological Psychology, 62, 89–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0301-0511(02)00128-X Google Scholar
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063–1070. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.54.6.1063 Google Scholar
Wingenfield, K., Schulz, M., Damkroeger, A., Rose, M., & Driessen, M. (2009). Elevated diurnal salivary cortisol in nurses is associated with burnout but not with vital exhaustion. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 34, 1144–1151. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.02.015 Google Scholar
Wolf, O. T. (2009). Stress and memory in humans: Twelve years of progress? Brain Research, 1293, 142–154. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2009.04.013 Google Scholar