Clerical Workers Show More Stress Signs than Executives
By Becky Ham, Staff Writer, Health Behavior News Service
Center for the Advancement of Health — Clerical workers show more signs of biological stress during the work day than those in executive or more senior positions, according to a new British study.
Employees on the lower rungs of the job ladder have higher blood pressure and increased heart rate in the mornings, say Andrew Steptoe, D.Phil., of University College London and colleagues.
Men in lower-level positions also had higher average levels of the stress hormone cortisol throughout the day. Among women, however, average cortisol levels were higher throughout the day among the higher-level executives rather than lower-level clerical workers.
The study appears in the current issue of Psychosomatic Medicine.
There were no significant differences in heart rate, blood pressure or cortisol levels among any of the workers at rest, indicating that “the actual experience of lower social status” may trigger these biological stress responses, according to Steptoe.
Previous studies have suggested that low socioeconomic status may prompt stress responses that inflame blood vessels and contribute to heart disease. Most of these earlier studies, however, have not followed workers as they go about their daily routine.
Steptoe and colleagues monitored blood pressure, heart rate and cortisol among 202 British civil servants for one day. The participants were men and women ages 45 to 58 with no prior history of heart disease or high blood pressure. The researchers checked blood pressure and heart rate every 20 minutes and collected saliva cortisol samples on cotton swabs every half-hour.
The differences among low-status and high-status workers remained significant even after accounting for the employees’ smoking and drinking habits, sleep, physical activity and their own reported feelings of stress — all factors that can influence the cardiovascular and hormone stress signs.
Steptoe and colleagues say more research is necessary to determine why some indicators of stress were only observed in the morning and why the cortisol findings differed between women and men.
—–
On the Net:
Center for the Advancement of Health
More science, space, and technology from RedNova