Job stressors can cause a salivary cortisol secretion dysregulation which in turn can lead to burnout. However, job stressors do not induce the same cortisol secretion dysregulation and psychic consequences systematically to all workers. Personality traits may influence job stressor’s adaptation. The objectives of this study were (a) to verify the mediating effect cortisol has on the relationship between work conditions and burnout, and (b) to identify the moderate mediation effects that personality traits have on the relationship between work conditions and salivary cortisol secretion.
METHOD:
Multilevel regression analyses were carried out on a sample of 352 employees in 34 Québec firms. Saliva samples were collected five times a day (on awakening, 30 minutes after awakening, at 2 p.m., 4 p.m., and bedtime) on three days (1 day off, 2 work days). Work conditions variables comprised skill utilization, decision authority, psychological demands, physical demands, job insecurity, irregular schedules, number of working hours, and social support. Personality traits included self-esteem, locus of control, and the Big Five. Both work conditions and personality traits were assessed with a psychosocial questionnaire.
RESULTS:
The level of salivary cortisol secretion was negatively associated with burnout. Certain workplace and personality variables had a significant effect on emotional exhaustion (psychological demands was positively associated, social support from supervisors was negatively associated) and on cortisol levels (job insecurity was negatively associated). Cortisol did not play any mediating role in the relationship between work conditions and burnout, which is moderated by personality traits.
CONCLUSIONS:
We conclude that work conditions (skill utilization, decision authority, psychological demands, physical demands, job insecurity, irregular schedules, number of working hours, and social support) and the interaction of personality traits with work conditions have no indirect effects on burnout.
MarchandA, DurandP. Psychological distress, depression, and burnout: Similar contribution of the Job Demand-Control and Job Demand-Control-Support Models?. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2011a); 53(2):185–9.
2.
SundinO, SoaresJ, GrossiG, MacassaG. Burnout among foreign-born and native Swedish women: A longitudinal study. Women & Health. 2011;51(7):643–60.
3.
XanthopoulouD, BakkerAB, DollardMF, DemeroutiE, SchaufeliWB, TarisTW, . When do job demands particularly predict burnout?: The moderating role of job resources. Journal of Managerial Psychology. 2007;22(8):766–86.
4.
XieZ, WangA, ChenB. Nurse burnout and its association with occupational stress in a cross-sectional study in Shanghai. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 2011;67(7):1537–46.
5.
BellingrathS, WeiglT, KudielkaBM. Chronic work stress and exhaustion is associated with higher allostastic load in female school teachers. Stress: The International Journal on the Biology of Stress. 2009;12(1):37–48.
6.
BersetM, SemmerNK, ElferingA, AmstadFT, JacobshagenN. Work characteristics as predictors of physiological recovery on weekends. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health. 2009;35(3):188–92.
7.
DevereuxJ, RydstedtL, CropleyM. An exploratory study to assess the impact of work demands and the anticipation of work on awakening saliva cortisol Psychological Reports (2011;108(2):274–80.
8.
KarlsonB, EekF, HansenÅM, GardeAH, ØrbækP. Cortisol variability and self-reports in the measurement of work-related stress. SMI Stress and Health. 2011;27(2):e11–e24.
9.
MommersteegPMC, HeijnenCJ, KeijsersGPJ, VerbraakMJPM, Van DoornenLJP. Cortisol deviations in people with burnout before and after psychotherapy: A pilot study. Health Psychology. 2006;25(2):243–8.
10.
Moya-AlbiolL, SerranoM, SalvadorA. Burnout as an important factor in the psychophysiological responses to a work day in Teachers. Stress & Health: Journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress. 2010;26(5):382–93.
11.
PruessnerJC, HellhammerDH, KirschbaumC. Burnout, perceived stress, and cortisol responses to awakening. Psychosomatic Medicine. 1999;61(2):197–204.
12.
WingenfeldK, SchulzM, DamkroegerA, RoseM, DriessenM. Elevated diurnal salivary cortisol in nurses is associated with burnout but not with vital exhaustion. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2009;34(8):1144–51.
13.
AlmeidaDM, PiazzaJR, StawskiRS. Interindividual differences and intraindividual variability in the cortisol awakening response: An examination of age and gender. Psychology and Aging. 2009;24(4):819–27.
14.
LazarusRS, FolkmanS. Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer1984.
15.
MarchandA, DemersA, DurandP. Social structures, agent personality and workers’ mental health: A longitudinal analysis of the specific role of occupation and of workplace constraints-resources on psychological distress in the Canadian workforce. Human Relations. 2006a) 59(7):875–901.
16.
PearlinLI. Stress and mental health: A conceptual overview. In: Horwitz AVaST.L., editor. A Handbook for the Study of Mental Health-Social Contexts and Systems. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999, pp. 161–75.
17.
SelyeH. A syndrome produced by diverse nocuous agents. Nature Nature. 1936);13832.
18.
MarchandA, DurandP, HainesIII V, HarveyS. The multilevel determinants of workers’ mental health: Results from the SALVEO study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. 2014); 1–15.
19.
BearMF, ConnorsBW, ParadisoMA. Neurosciences: Á la découverte du cerveau. Paris: Éditions Pradel, 2002.
20.
ChidaY, HamerM. Chronic psychosocial factors and acute physiological responses to laboratory-induced stress in healthy populations: A quantitative review of 30 years of investigations. Psychological Bulletin. 2008;134(6):829–85.
21.
PruessnerJ, WolfO, HellhammerD, Buske-KirschbaumA, VonAuer K, JobstS, . Free cortisol levels after awakening: A reliable biological marker for the assessment of adrenocortical activity. Life Sciences. 1997;61(26):2539–49.
22.
WüstS, FederenkoI, HellhammerDH, KirschbaumC. Genetic factors, perceived chronic stress, and the free cortisol response to awakening. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2000;25(7):707–20.
23.
GansterDC, FoxML, DwyerDJ. Explaining employees’ health care costs: A prospective examination of stressful job demands, personal control, and physiological reactivity. Journal of Applied Psychology. 2001;86(5):954–64.
24.
HansenN, SverkeM, NaswallK. Predicting nurse burnout from demands and resources in three acute care hospitals under different forms of ownership: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey. International Journal of Nursing Studies. 2009;46(1):95–106.
25.
McEwenBS, SeemanT. Protective and damaging effects of mediators of stress: Elaborating and testing the concepts of allostasis and allostatic load. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1999;896(1):30–47.
26.
UrsinH. Psychosomatic medicine: State of the art. Annals of Medicine. 2000;32(5):323–8.
27.
WeitzmanED, FukushimaD, NogeireC, RoffwargH, GallagherT, HellmanL. Twenty-four hour pattern of the episodic secretion of cortisol in normal subjects. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 1971;33(1):14–22.
28.
MarchandA, DurandP, JusterR-P, LupienSJ. Workers’ psychological distress, depression, and burnout symptoms: Associations with diurnal cortisol profiles. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health. 2014); 305–14.
MarchandA, DemersA, DurandP. Does work really cause distress? The contribution of occupational structure and work organization to the experience of psychological distress. Social Science & Medicine. b. 2005;61(1):1–14.
31.
HuangY-H, ChenC-H, DuP-L, HuangI-C. The causal relationships between job characteristics, burnout, and psychological health: A two-wave panel study. The International Journal of Human Resource Management. 2012;23(10):2108–25.
32.
KalimoR, PahkinK, MutanenP, Toppinen-TannerS. Staying well or burning out at work: Work characteristics and personal resources as long-term predictors. Work & Stress. 2003;17(2):109–22.
33.
SjogrenE, LeandersonP, KristensonM. Diurnal saliva cortisol levels and relations to psychosocial factors in a population sample of middle-aged Swedish men and women. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine. 2006;13(3):193–200.
34.
SteptoeA, CropleyM, GriffithJ, KirschbaumC. Job strain and anger expression predict early morning elevations in salivary cortisol. Psychosomatic Medicine. 2000;62(2):286–92.
35.
StokholmZA, HansenÅM, GrynderupMB, BondeJP, ChristensenKL, FrederiksenTW, . Recent and long-term occupational noise exposure and salivary cortisol level. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2014;39:21–32.
36.
FouladiDB, NassiriP, MonazzamEM, FarahaniS, HassanzadehG, HoseiniM. Industrial noise exposure and salivary cortisol in blue collar industrial workers. Noise and Health. 2012;14(59):184–9.
37.
HultellD, GustavssonJP. Factors affecting burnout and work engagement in teachers when entering employment. Work. 2011;40(1):85–98.
38.
SchaufeliWB, BakkerAB, Van RhenenW. How changes in job demands and resources predict burnout, work engagement and sickness absenteeism. Journal of Organizational Behavior. 2009;30(7):893–917.
39.
SundinL, HochwälderJ, LisspersJ. A longitudinal examination of generic and occupational specific job demands, and work-related social support associated with burnout among nurses in Sweden. Work. 2011;38(4):389–400.
40.
EllerNH, NetterstrømB, HansenÅM. Psychosocial factors at home and at work and levels of salivary cortisol. Biological Psychology. 2006;73(3):280–7.
41.
FujiwaraK, TsukishimaE, KasaiS, MasuchiA, TsutsumiA, KawakamiN, . Urinary catecholamines and salivary cortisol on workdays and days off in relation to job strain among female health care providers. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health. 2004); 129–38.
42.
HansonEK, MaasCJ, MeijmanTF, GodaertGL. Cortisol secretion throughout the day, perceptions of the work environment, and negative affect. Annals of Behavioral Medicine. 2000;22(4):316–24.
43.
HarrisA, UrsinH, MurisonR, EriksenHR. Coffee, stress and cortisol in nursing staff. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2007;32(4):322–30.
44.
MainaG, PalmasA, FilonFL. Relationship between self-reported mental stressors at the workplace and salivary cortisol. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health. 2008;81(4):391–400.
45.
RystedtLW, CropleyM, DevereuxJJ, MichalianouG. The relationship between long-term job strain and morning and evening saliva cortisol secretion among white-collar workers. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology. 2008;13(2):105–13.
46.
ThomasC, HertzmanC, PowerC. Night work, long working hours, psychosocial work stress and cortisol secretion in mid-life: Evidence from a British birth cohort. Occupational and Environmental Medicine Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2009;66(12):824–31.
47.
WrightBJ. Comparing the job strain and job demand-control-support models in direct-care disability workers: Support for support. Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine. 2008;50(3):316–23.
48.
SchlotzW, HellhammerJ, SchulzP, StoneAA. Perceived Work Overload and Chronic Worrying Predict Weekend-Weekday Differences in the Cortisol Awakening Response. Psychosomatic Medicine. 2004;66(2):207–14.
49.
AholaK, HonkonenT, IsometsaE, KalimoR, NykyriE, KoskinenS, . Burnout in the general population: Results from the Finnish Health Study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. 2006;41(1):11–7.
50.
LeonardiM, PaganiM, GiovannettiAM, RaggiA, SattinD. Burnout in healthcare professionals working with patients with disorders of consciousness. Work. 2013;45(3):349–56.
51.
ShanafeltTD, BalchCM, BechampsGJ, RussellT, DyrbyeL, SateleD, . Burnout and career satisfaction among American surgeons. Annals of Surgery. 2009;250(3):463–71.
52.
GardeAH, FaberA, PerssonR, HansenAM, HjortskovN, OrbaekP, . Concentrations of cortisol, testosterone and glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) among construction workers with 12-h workdays and extended workweeks. International Archives of Occupational & Environmental Health. 2007;80(5):404–11.
53.
LundbergU, HellströmB. Workload and morning salivary cortisol in women. Work & Stress. 2002;16(4):356–63.
54.
MarchandA, DurandP, LupienS. Work hours and cortisol variation from non-working to working days. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health. 2013;86(5):553–9.
55.
SinghP, SuarD, LeiterMP. Antecedents, work-related consequences, and buffers of job burnout among Indian software developers. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies. 2012;19(1):83–104.
56.
LacG, ChamouxA. Biological and psychological responses to two rapid shiftwork schedules. Ergonomics. 2004;47(12):1339–49.
57.
DejoursC. Travail usure mentale: Essai de psychopathologie du travail. Paris: Bayard éditions1993.
58.
Spooner-LaneR, PattonW. Determinants of burnout among public hospital nurses. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing. 2007;25(1):8–16.
59.
Hudek-KnezevicJ, KrapicN, KardumI. Burnout in dispositional context: The role of personality traits, social support and coping style. Review of Psychology. 2006;13(2):65–73.
60.
EvansO, SteptoeA. Social support at work, heart rate, and cortisol: A self-monitoring study. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology. 2001;6(4):361–70.
61.
AdriaenssensJ, De GuchtV, MaesS. Causes and consequences of occupational stress in emergency nurses, a longitudinal study. Journal of Nursing Management. 2015;23(3):346–58.
62.
TaiW-T, LiuS-C. An investigation of the influences of job autonomy and neuroticism on job stressor-strain relations. Social Behavior and Personality. 2007;35(8):1007–20.
63.
SchmitzN, NeumannW, OppermannR. Stress, burnout and locus of control in German nurses. International Journal of Nursing Studies. 2000;37(2):95–9.
64.
CostaPT, McCraeRR. Normal personality assessment in clinical practice: The NEO personality inventory. Psychological Assessment. 1992;4(1):5–13.
65.
McCraeRR, CostaPT. Validation of the five-factor model of personality across instruments and observers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1987;52(1):81–90.
66.
KokkinosCM. Job stressors, personality and burnout in primary school teachers. British Journal of Educational Psychology. 2007;77(1):229–43.
67.
LakinBL, LeonSC, MillerSA. Predictors of burnout in children’s residential treatment center staff. Residential Treatment for Children & Youth. 2008;25(3):249–70.
68.
ArmonG, ShiromA, MelamedS. The big five personality factors as predictors of changes across time in burnout and its facets. Journal of Personality. 2012;80(2):403–27.
69.
CostaPT, McCraeRR. Cross-sectional studies of personality in a national sample: I. Development and validation of survey measures. Psychology and Aging. 1986;1(2):140–3.
70.
BolgerN, DeLongisA, KesslerRC, WethingtonE. The contagion of stress across multiple roles. Journal of Marriage and the Family. 1989;51(1):175–83.
71.
HeppnerPP, CookSW, WrightDM, JohnsonWC. Progress in resolving problems: A problem-focused style of coping. Journal of Counseling Psychology. 1995;42(3):279–93.
72.
BakkerAB, Van der ZeeKI, LewigKA, DollardMF. The relationship between the Big Five personality factors and burnout: A study among volunteer counselors. Journal of Social Psychology. 2006;146(1):31–50.
73.
MadnawatA, MehtaP. Personality as a predictor of burnout among managers of manufacturing industries. Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology. 2012;38(2):321–8.
74.
McCraeRR, CostaPT. Comparison of EPI and psychoticism scales with measures of the five-factor model of personality. Personality and Individual Differences. 1985;6(5):587–97.
75.
ChungMC, HardingC. Investigating burnout and psychological well-being of staff working with people with intellectual disabilities and challenging behaviour: The role of personality. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities. 2009;22(6):549–60.
76.
RosenbergM. Conceiving the self. New York: Basic Books1979.
77.
GarrosaE, RainhoC, Moreno-JimenezB, MonteiroMJ. The relationship between job stressors, hardy personality, coping resources and burnout in a sample of nurses: A correlational study at two time points. International Journal of Nursing Studies. 2010;47(2):205–15.
78.
PervinLA, JohnOP. Handbook of personality: Theory and research: Elsevier1999.
79.
LevensonH. Reliability and Validity of the I,P, and C Scales - A Multidimensional View of Locus of Control1973.
80.
RotterJB. Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied. 1966;80(1):1–28.
81.
MarchandA, DurandP, HainesV, HarveyS. The multilevel determinants of workers’ mental health: results from the SALVEO study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. 2015;50(3):445–59.
LeeRT, AshforthBE. A meta-analytic examination of the correlates of the three dimensions of job burnout. J Appl Psychol. 1996;81(2):122–33.
84.
MaslachCA multidimensional theory of burnout. In: CooperC, editor. Theories of organizational stress. Oxford: University Press, 1998. pp. 68–85.
85.
ShiromA. Job related burnout: A review. In: QuickJC, TetrickLE, editors. Handbook of Occupational Health Psychology. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association (2003); 245–64.
86.
SteptoeA, SiegristJ, KirschbaumC, MarmotM. Effort-reward imbalance, overcommitment, and measures of cortisol and blood pressure over the working day. Psychosomatic Medicine. 2004;66(3):323–9.
87.
LupienSJ, de LeonM, De SantiS, ConvitA, TarshishC, NairNPV, . Cortisol levels during human aging predict hippocampal atrophy and memory deficits. Nature Neuroscience. 1998;1(1):69–73.
88.
SmythJM, OckenfelsMC, GorinAA, CatleyD, PorterLS, KirschbaumC, . Individual differences in the diurnal cycle of cortisol. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 1997;22(2):89–105.
89.
StoneAA, SchwartzJE, SmythJ, KirschbaumC, CohenS, HellhammerD, . Individual differences in the diurnal cycle of salivary free cortisol: A replication of flattened cycles for some individuals. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2001;26(3):295–306.
90.
PruessnerJC, KirschbaumC, MeinlschmidG, HellhammerDH. Two formulas for computation of the area under the curve represent measures of total hormone concentration versus time-dependent change. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2003;28(7):916–31.
91.
DonnellanMB, OswaldFL, BairdBM, LucasRE. The mini-IPIP scales: Tiny-yet-effective measures of the Big Five factors of personality. Psychological Assessment. 2006;18(2):192–203.
92.
LarssonCA, GullbergB, RåstamL, LindbladU. Salivary cortisol differs with age and sex and shows inverse associations with WHR in Swedish women: A cross-sectional study. BMC Endocrine Disorders. 2009;9(1):16–27.
93.
Van CauterE. Effects of gender and age on the levels and circadian rhythmicity of plasma cortisol. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 1996;81(7):2468–73.
94.
PerssonR, GardeAH, HansenÅM, ÖsterbergK, LarssonB, Ørbæk P, . Seasonal variation in human salivary cortisol concentration. Chronobiology International. 2008;25(6):923–37.
95.
SteptoeA, UssherM. Smoking, cortisol and nicotine. International Journal of Psychophysiology. 2006;59(3):228–35.
96.
BadrickE, BobakM, BrittonA, KirschbaumC, MarmotM, KumariM. The relationship between alcohol consumption and cortisol secretion in an aging cohort. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 2008;93(3):750–7.
97.
HansenÅM, BlangstedAK, HansenEA, SøgaardK, SjøgaardG. Physical activity, job demand– control, perceived stress– energy, and salivary cortisol in white-collar workers. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health. 2010;83(2):143–53.
98.
GrangerDA, HibelLC, FortunatoCK, KapelewskiCH. Medication effects on salivary cortisol: Tactics and strategy to minimize impact in behavioral and developmental science. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2009;34(10):1437–48.
99.
KudielkaB, KirschbaumC. Awakening cortisol responses are influenced by health status and awakening time but not by menstrual cycle phase. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2003;28(1):35–47.
100.
SiegristJ. Adverse health effects of high-effort/low-reward conditions. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology. 1996;1(1):27.
101.
DaiJM, CollinsS, YuHZ, FuH. Combining job stress models in predicting burnout by hierarchical multiple regressions: A cross-sectional investigation in Shanghai. Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine. 2008;50(7):785–90.
102.
KlersyC, CallegariA, MartinelliV, VizzardiV, NavinoC, MalbertiF, . Burnout in health care providers of dialysis service in Northern Italy–a multicentre study. Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation. 2007;22(8):2283–90.
103.
ClaysE, De BacquerD, LeynenF, KornitzerM, KittelF, De BackerG. Job stress and depression symptoms in middle-aged workers— prospective results from the Belstress study. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health. 2007); 252–9.
104.
MarchandA, BlancM-É. Occupation, work organisation conditions and the development of chronic psychological distress. Work: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment and Rehabilitation. 2011;40(4):425–35.
105.
WheatonB. Sampling the stress universe. In: Avison WReG, I. H., editor. Stress and mental health: Contemporary issues and prospects for the future. New York: Plenium Press (1994); 77–114.
106.
MuthénL, MuthénB. MPlus: The comprehensive modeling program for applied researchers, Version 3. Muthen & Muthen, Los Angeles, CA2004.
107.
HayesA. Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. New York: Guilford Press2013.
HakanenJJ, SchaufeliWB, AholaK. The Job Demands-Resources model: A three-year cross-lagged study of burnout, depression, commitment, and work engagement. Work & Stress. 2008;22(3):224–41.
110.
HallGB, DollardMF, TuckeyMR, WinefieldAH, ThompsonBM. Job demands, work-family conflict, and emotional exhaustion in police officers: A longitudinal test of competing theories. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. 2010;83(1):237–50.
111.
CohenS, HerbertTB. Health psychology: Psychological factors and physical disease from the perspective of human psychoneuroimmunology. Annual Review of Psychology. 1996;47(1):113–42.
