Effects of psychosocial work characteristics on hair cortisol – findings from a post-trial study

Figures & data

Table 1. Sample characteristics at time of hair cortisol sampling.

	Mean or %	SD or n
Cortisol hair (pg/mg)	9.00	7.11
Age (years)	40.68	6.74
Shiftwork (yes)	18.2%	12
Smoking
Never smoker	43.9%	29
Ex-smoker	33.0%	22
Smoker	22.7%	15
Physical activity (h/week)	2.46	2.98
Medication (yes)	31.8%	21
Income
≤3000	18.2%	12
3001–4000 Euro	34.8%	23
>4000 Euro	16.7%	11
n/s	30.3%	20
Number of stressful life events	2.18	1.60

SD: standard deviation; n: number.

Table 2. Scores of ERI scales at T1, T2, as well as mean and change scores.

	T1		T2		Mean (T1 T2)		Change (T1 T2)
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	p
Effort-reward ratio	0.59	0.24	0.59	0.22	0.59	0.20	−0.01	0.22	0.834
Effort	15.00	3.83	14.59	4.07	14.82	3.37	−0.41	3.96	0.415
Reward	48.50	6.60	47.35	6.55	47.92	5.67	−1.15	6.65	0.164
Esteem	22.03	3.57	20.83	3.90	21.43	3.17	−1.20	3.98	0.017
Job security	8.89	1.76	8.95	1.59	8.92	1.38	0.06	1.90	0.796
Job promotion/salary	17.58	2.35	17.56	2.82	17.57	2.09	−0.02	3.07	0.968
Over-commitment	12.71	3.56	13.38	3.92	13.05	3.31	0.67	3.49	0.125

SD: standard deviation; p: p value (paired samples test).

Figure 1. Association of change in the job security scale between T1 and T2 and transformed (Log 10) hair cortisol concentration (HCC) (see file attached).

Table 3. Unadjusted effects of single time points (T1, T2) ERI measures, as well as mean and change scores of ERI scales on hair cortisol concentration (Log₁₀).

	T1				T2				Mean (T1 T2)				Change effect
	B	β	R^2	SP	B	β	R^2	SP	B	β	R^2	SP	B	β	R^2	SP
Effort-reward ratio	−0.227	−0.172	0.030	0.294	−0.106	−0.074	0.006	0.086	−0.226	−0.144	0.021	0.215	0.157	0.111	0.012	0.154
Effort	−0.010	−0.116	0.013	0.145	−0.008	−0.107	0.011	0.128	−0.012	−0.129	0.017	0.180	0.000	0.001	0.000	0.000
Reward	0.011^a	0.225	0.051	0.468	0.001	0.012	0.000	0.040	0.008	0.138	0.019	0.198	−0.010^a	−0.212	0.045	0.420
Esteem	0.012	0.135	0.018	0.189	0.006	0.073	0.005	0.078	0.012	0.121	0.015	0.163	0.045	−0.050	0.002	0.054
Job security	0.041^a	0.232	0.054	0.491	−0.025	−0.126	0.016	0.171	0.017	0.075	0.006	0.086	−0.053^b	−0.320	0.103	0.784
Job promotion	0.034^c	0.253	0.064	0.564	0.000	−0.003	0.000	0.039	0.021	0.140	0.020	0.206	−0.020	−0.197	0.039	0.371
Over-commitment	−0.014	−0.156	0.024	0.241	−0.005	−0.057	0.003	0.062	−0.011	−0.117	0.014	0.154	0.009	0.095	0.009	0.111

^a p < .10.

^b p < .01.

^c p < .05.

SP: statistical power.

Table 4. Adjusted effects of single time points (T1, T2) ERI measures, as well as mean and change scores of ERI scales on hair cortisol concentration (Log₁₀).

	T1				T2				Mean (T1 T2)				Change effect
	B	β	R^2	SP	B	β	R^2	SP	B	β	R^2	SP	B	β	R^2	SP
Effort-reward ratio	−0.088	−0.067	0.276	0.942	0.143	0.100	0.303	0.969	0.000	0.000	0.273	0.939	0.259	0.183	0.317	0.971
Effort	−0.003	−0.037	0.274	0.940	0.002	0.021	0.295	0.962	−0.002	−0.022	0.273	0.939	0.005	0.057	0.298	0.955
Reward	0.004	0.091	0.280	0.947	−0.007	−0.137	0.290	0.958	−0.002	−0.031	0.273	0.939	−0.011^a	−0.226	0.316	0.970
Esteem	0.003	0.036	0.274	0.939	−0.005	−0.060	0.276	0.942	−0.002	−0.018	0.273	0.939	−0.007	−0.093	0.280	0.934
Job security	0.029	0.164	0.298	0.965	−0.030	−0.152	0.295	0.962	0.003	0.015	0.273	0.939	−0.047^b	−0.288	0.347	0.987
Job promotion	0.010	0.072	0.277	0.943	−0.016	−0.142	0.291	0.958	−0.011	−0.071	0.277	0.943	−0.018	−0.172	0.300	0.957
Over − commitment	−0.009	−0.105	0.282	0.949	−0.007	−0.086	0.280	0.947	−0.010	−0.103	0.277	0.943	−0.003	−0.037	0.283	0.938

^a p < .10.

^b p < .05.

SP: statistical power.

Analyses were adjusted for age, shiftwork, income, physical activity, smoking, number of stressful life events, medication intake, and baseline scale values in change analyzes.