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Job strain, blood pressure and response to uncontrollable stress
A Steptoe1, M Cropley, K Joekes
1Department of Psychology, St. George's Hospital Medical School, University of London, UK. asteptoe@sghms.ac.uk
Insights
High job strain increases cardiovascular responses to uncontrollable stressors. Individuals with high job strain showed heightened blood pressure reactions to uncontrollable tasks, unlike those with low job strain.
Area of Science:
- Occupational Health
- Cardiovascular Physiology
- Psychosocial Stressors
Background:
- Job strain, characterized by high demands and low control, is linked to cardiovascular disease risk.
- Physiological stress responsivity may mediate this association.
- Understanding cardiovascular responses to different stressors is crucial for public health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if job strain heightens cardiovascular responses to uncontrollable stressors.
- To examine the association between job strain and blood pressure reduction during the unwinding period after work.
Main Methods:
- 162 school teachers were categorized into high or low job strain groups.
- Cardiovascular responses (blood pressure, heart rate, electrodermal activity) to controllable and uncontrollable tasks were assessed.
- Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was conducted throughout a working day and evening.
Main Results:
- High job strain groups exhibited greater blood pressure increases in response to uncontrollable tasks compared to low job strain groups.
- No significant differences in blood pressure responses to controllable tasks were observed between groups.
- While blood pressure decreased in the evening for the low job strain group, this reduction was less pronounced in the high job strain group.
Conclusions:
- Job strain is associated with an exaggerated blood pressure response to uncontrollable stressors, but not controllable ones.
- The impaired evening blood pressure reduction in high job strain individuals may indicate chronic allostatic load.
Objective:
The association between cardiovascular disease risk and job strain (high-demand, low-control work) may be mediated by heightened physiological stress responsivity. We hypothesized that high levels of job strain lead to increased cardiovascular responses to uncontrollable but not controllable stressors. Associations between job strain and blood pressure reductions after the working day (unwinding) were also assessed.
Design:
Assessment of cardiovascular responses to standardized behavioral tasks, and ambulatory monitoring of blood pressure and heart rate during a working day and evening.
Participants:
We studied 162 school teachers (60 men, 102 women) selected from a larger survey as experiencing high or low job strain.
Methods:
Blood pressure, heart rate and electrodermal responses to an externally paced (uncontrollable) task and a self-paced (controllable) task were assessed. Blood pressure was monitored using ambulatory apparatus from 0900 to 2230 h on a working day.
Results:
The groups of subjects with high and low job strain did not differ in demographic factors, body mass or resting cardiovascular activity. Blood pressure reactions to the uncontrollable task were greater in high than low job-strain groups, but responses to the controllable task were not significantly different between groups. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure did not differ between groups over the working day, but decreased to a greater extent in the evening in subjects with low job strain.
Conclusions:
Job strain is associated with a heightened blood pressure response to uncontrollable but not controllable tasks. The failure of subjects with high job strain to show reduced blood pressure in the evening may be a manifestation of chronic allostatic load.