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The diurnal course of salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase on workdays and leisure days in teachers and the role of social isolation and neuroticism

Teachers are among the occupational groups with the highest sick leave rates due to workplace stress and burnout symptoms. A substantial body of research has suggested social isolation and neuroticism to be related to physiological stress activity. However, the relationship between such characterist...

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Autores principales: Schneider, Sandra, grosse Holtforth, Martin, Wettstein, Alexander, Jenni, Gabriel, Kühne, Fabienne, Tschacher, Wolfgang, La Marca, Roberto
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10231784/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37256854
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0286475
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author Schneider, Sandra
grosse Holtforth, Martin
Wettstein, Alexander
Jenni, Gabriel
Kühne, Fabienne
Tschacher, Wolfgang
La Marca, Roberto
author_facet Schneider, Sandra
grosse Holtforth, Martin
Wettstein, Alexander
Jenni, Gabriel
Kühne, Fabienne
Tschacher, Wolfgang
La Marca, Roberto
author_sort Schneider, Sandra
collection PubMed
description Teachers are among the occupational groups with the highest sick leave rates due to workplace stress and burnout symptoms. A substantial body of research has suggested social isolation and neuroticism to be related to physiological stress activity. However, the relationship between such characteristics and stress experiences has rarely been studied in conjunction with physiological stress indicators in the teachers’ natural settings. Thus, the present study examines salivary cortisol and α-amylase as physiological stress indicators on teachers’ work and leisure days and their relationship with social isolation. Furthermore, we test whether neuroticism moderates the relationship between social isolation and salivary biomarkers. Forty-two teachers completed questionnaires assessing social isolation (Trier Inventory for the Assessment of Chronic Stress) and neuroticism (Big-Five Inventory). Participants collected eight saliva samples on three days, two workdays, and one leisure day to measure the concentration of cortisol and α-amylase as biomarkers of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the autonomic nervous system (ANS), respectively. Results showed a significantly higher Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR) and diurnal cortisol slope (DCS) on workdays than on the leisure day but no significant differences regarding measures of α-amylase. We found a significant positive relationship between social isolation and the CAR on the leisure day but no association with the α-amylase measures. Furthermore, after controlling for confounders, social isolation was unrelated to neuroticism, and the latter did not moderate between social isolation and the CAR. Our findings suggest an association between social isolation and the HPA axis, i.e., the CAR, but do not support an association with the ANS, which would be indicated by the α-amylase assessments. Finally, our findings could not support an association of neuroticism with the HPA axis and ANS.
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spelling pubmed-102317842023-06-01 The diurnal course of salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase on workdays and leisure days in teachers and the role of social isolation and neuroticism Schneider, Sandra grosse Holtforth, Martin Wettstein, Alexander Jenni, Gabriel Kühne, Fabienne Tschacher, Wolfgang La Marca, Roberto PLoS One Research Article Teachers are among the occupational groups with the highest sick leave rates due to workplace stress and burnout symptoms. A substantial body of research has suggested social isolation and neuroticism to be related to physiological stress activity. However, the relationship between such characteristics and stress experiences has rarely been studied in conjunction with physiological stress indicators in the teachers’ natural settings. Thus, the present study examines salivary cortisol and α-amylase as physiological stress indicators on teachers’ work and leisure days and their relationship with social isolation. Furthermore, we test whether neuroticism moderates the relationship between social isolation and salivary biomarkers. Forty-two teachers completed questionnaires assessing social isolation (Trier Inventory for the Assessment of Chronic Stress) and neuroticism (Big-Five Inventory). Participants collected eight saliva samples on three days, two workdays, and one leisure day to measure the concentration of cortisol and α-amylase as biomarkers of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the autonomic nervous system (ANS), respectively. Results showed a significantly higher Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR) and diurnal cortisol slope (DCS) on workdays than on the leisure day but no significant differences regarding measures of α-amylase. We found a significant positive relationship between social isolation and the CAR on the leisure day but no association with the α-amylase measures. Furthermore, after controlling for confounders, social isolation was unrelated to neuroticism, and the latter did not moderate between social isolation and the CAR. Our findings suggest an association between social isolation and the HPA axis, i.e., the CAR, but do not support an association with the ANS, which would be indicated by the α-amylase assessments. Finally, our findings could not support an association of neuroticism with the HPA axis and ANS. Public Library of Science 2023-05-31 /pmc/articles/PMC10231784/ /pubmed/37256854 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0286475 Text en © 2023 Schneider et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Schneider, Sandra
grosse Holtforth, Martin
Wettstein, Alexander
Jenni, Gabriel
Kühne, Fabienne
Tschacher, Wolfgang
La Marca, Roberto
The diurnal course of salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase on workdays and leisure days in teachers and the role of social isolation and neuroticism
title The diurnal course of salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase on workdays and leisure days in teachers and the role of social isolation and neuroticism
title_full The diurnal course of salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase on workdays and leisure days in teachers and the role of social isolation and neuroticism
title_fullStr The diurnal course of salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase on workdays and leisure days in teachers and the role of social isolation and neuroticism
title_full_unstemmed The diurnal course of salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase on workdays and leisure days in teachers and the role of social isolation and neuroticism
title_short The diurnal course of salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase on workdays and leisure days in teachers and the role of social isolation and neuroticism
title_sort diurnal course of salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase on workdays and leisure days in teachers and the role of social isolation and neuroticism
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10231784/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37256854
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0286475
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