Relationship between work strain, need for recovery after work and cumulative cortisol among kindergarten teachers

The purpose of this study was to explore whether work strain (i.e., job demands and job control) and subjective need for recovery (NFR) after work are related to measured concentration of cumulative cortisol.

Participants were 43 teachers recruited from kindergarten. They self-reported their NFR, job demands and job control over the last month. NFR was measured with the NFR scale. Job demands and control were assessed with the Chinese version of the Job Content Questionnaire. Hair cortisol was used to represent cumulative cortisol excretion. Hair cortisol concentration (HCC) was measured with high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

No significant correlations were found between job demands or job control and HCC. NFR was significantly and inversely correlated with HCC (r = -0.41, p = 0.006). The inverse association between NFR and HCC remained significant when age and job demands and job control were controlled for (p = 0.02).

The activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis declines with the accumulation of NFR after working time.