The effects of a workplace intervention on employees’ cortisol awakening response
Work-related stressors are known to adversely affect employees’ stress physiology, including the cortisol awakening response (CAR)–or the spike in cortisol levels shortly after people wake up that aids in mobilizing energy. A flat or blunted CAR has been linked to chronic stress and burnout. This da...
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| Format: | Article |
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Informa UK Limited
2019
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/120534 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2168-5611 |
| _version_ | 1826195224028774400 |
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| author | Almeida, David M. Lee, Soomi Walter, Kimberly N. Lawson, Katie M. Buxton, Orfeu M. Kelly, Erin L. |
| author2 | Sloan School of Management |
| author_facet | Sloan School of Management Almeida, David M. Lee, Soomi Walter, Kimberly N. Lawson, Katie M. Buxton, Orfeu M. Kelly, Erin L. |
| author_sort | Almeida, David M. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Work-related stressors are known to adversely affect employees’ stress physiology, including the cortisol awakening response (CAR)–or the spike in cortisol levels shortly after people wake up that aids in mobilizing energy. A flat or blunted CAR has been linked to chronic stress and burnout. This daily diary study tested the effects of a workplace intervention on employed parents’ CAR. Specifically, we tested whether the effects of the intervention on CAR were moderated by the type of days (workday versus non-work day). Data came from 94 employed parents from an information technology firm who participated in the baseline and 12-month diurnal cortisol components of the Work, Family, and Health Study, a group-randomized field experiment. The workplace intervention was designed to reduce work-family conflict (WFC) and implemented after the baseline data collection. Diurnal salivary cortisol was collected on 4 days at both baseline and 12 months. Multilevel modeling revealed that the intervention significantly increased employees’ CAR at 12 months on non-workdays, but this was not evident on workdays or for employees in the usual practice condition. The results provide evidence that the intervention was effective in enhancing employees’ biological stress physiology particularly during opportunities for recovery that are more likely to occur on non-work days. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:09:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/120534 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:09:20Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publisher | Informa UK Limited |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1205342022-09-26T16:06:15Z The effects of a workplace intervention on employees’ cortisol awakening response Almeida, David M. Lee, Soomi Walter, Kimberly N. Lawson, Katie M. Buxton, Orfeu M. Kelly, Erin L. Sloan School of Management Kelly, Erin L. Work-related stressors are known to adversely affect employees’ stress physiology, including the cortisol awakening response (CAR)–or the spike in cortisol levels shortly after people wake up that aids in mobilizing energy. A flat or blunted CAR has been linked to chronic stress and burnout. This daily diary study tested the effects of a workplace intervention on employed parents’ CAR. Specifically, we tested whether the effects of the intervention on CAR were moderated by the type of days (workday versus non-work day). Data came from 94 employed parents from an information technology firm who participated in the baseline and 12-month diurnal cortisol components of the Work, Family, and Health Study, a group-randomized field experiment. The workplace intervention was designed to reduce work-family conflict (WFC) and implemented after the baseline data collection. Diurnal salivary cortisol was collected on 4 days at both baseline and 12 months. Multilevel modeling revealed that the intervention significantly increased employees’ CAR at 12 months on non-workdays, but this was not evident on workdays or for employees in the usual practice condition. The results provide evidence that the intervention was effective in enhancing employees’ biological stress physiology particularly during opportunities for recovery that are more likely to occur on non-work days. National Institute on Aging (U01AG027669) Work, Family & Health Network (U01HD051217) Work, Family & Health Network (U01HD051218) Work, Family & Health Network (U01HD051256) Work, Family & Health Network (U01HD051276) U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (U010H008788) Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (2004-12-4) William T. Grant Foundation (9844) National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Penn State General Clinical Research Center. Grant M01-RR-10732) 2019-02-21T21:25:13Z 2019-02-21T21:25:13Z 2018-03 2016-10 2019-02-15T19:48:27Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1366-8803 1469-3615 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/120534 Almeida, David M., Soomi Lee, Kimberly N. Walter, Katie M. Lawson, Erin L. Kelly, and Orfeu M. Buxton. “The Effects of a Workplace Intervention on Employees’ Cortisol Awakening Response.” Community, Work & Family 21, no. 2 (March 2018): 151–167. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2168-5611 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2018.1428172 Community, Work & Family Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ application/pdf Informa UK Limited PMC |
| spellingShingle | Almeida, David M. Lee, Soomi Walter, Kimberly N. Lawson, Katie M. Buxton, Orfeu M. Kelly, Erin L. The effects of a workplace intervention on employees’ cortisol awakening response |
| title | The effects of a workplace intervention on employees’ cortisol awakening response |
| title_full | The effects of a workplace intervention on employees’ cortisol awakening response |
| title_fullStr | The effects of a workplace intervention on employees’ cortisol awakening response |
| title_full_unstemmed | The effects of a workplace intervention on employees’ cortisol awakening response |
| title_short | The effects of a workplace intervention on employees’ cortisol awakening response |
| title_sort | effects of a workplace intervention on employees cortisol awakening response |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/120534 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2168-5611 |
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