OBJECTIVES: The two objectives are to test the hypothesis that women in a profession with low decision latitude will have greater catecholamine excretion and higher blood pressure than women in a profession with greater decision latitude, and to assess the influence of ethnicity on the occupational comparison. METHODS: Premenopausal women who were either full-time teachers in public schools (teachers; N = 92) or nurses or nurse's aides (nurses; N = 55) in East Hawaii who were not currently taking antihypertensive medication had ambulatory blood pressure (BP) and urinary catecholamine excretion measured over an approximate 4-hour period at work and home and over an approximate 8-hour period overnight. The women also filled out the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ). RESULTS: The nurses had significantly lower scores on the "decision latitude" subscale of the JCQ. After controlling for the effects of ethnicity, age, body mass index, JCQ subscale scores, smoking habits, and menopausal status in regression analyses, the nurses also had significantly higher mean systolic and diastolic BP both in work and home settings and higher mean rates of both norepinephrine and epinephrine excretion in all daily settings (p < .05). There were no significant ethnic differences in scores on the JCQ subscales, but Asian-Americans had significantly higher systolic BP in all daily settings and higher diastolic BP overnight (p < .05) than Euro-Americans. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that among professional women, physiological stress responses are significantly greater when occupation-related decision latitude is low (nurses) than when it is high (teachers). The physiological response to stress is carried over into the home and overnight settings when occupation-related decision latitude is low (nurses). Individual scores on the JCQ were not significantly related to physiological measures in this study, however. Inclusion of contrasting occupations may be necessary to properly evaluate the relationships between individually reported job strain and heightened physiological stress responses in studies of working women.
OBJECTIVES: The two objectives are to test the hypothesis that women in a profession with low decision latitude will have greater catecholamine excretion and higher blood pressure than women in a profession with greater decision latitude, and to assess the influence of ethnicity on the occupational comparison. METHODS: Premenopausal women who were either full-time teachers in public schools (teachers; N = 92) or nurses or nurse's aides (nurses; N = 55) in East Hawaii who were not currently taking antihypertensive medication had ambulatory blood pressure (BP) and urinary catecholamine excretion measured over an approximate 4-hour period at work and home and over an approximate 8-hour period overnight. The women also filled out the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ). RESULTS: The nurses had significantly lower scores on the "decision latitude" subscale of the JCQ. After controlling for the effects of ethnicity, age, body mass index, JCQ subscale scores, smoking habits, and menopausal status in regression analyses, the nurses also had significantly higher mean systolic and diastolic BP both in work and home settings and higher mean rates of both norepinephrine and epinephrine excretion in all daily settings (p < .05). There were no significant ethnic differences in scores on the JCQ subscales, but Asian-Americans had significantly higher systolic BP in all daily settings and higher diastolic BP overnight (p < .05) than Euro-Americans. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that among professional women, physiological stress responses are significantly greater when occupation-related decision latitude is low (nurses) than when it is high (teachers). The physiological response to stress is carried over into the home and overnight settings when occupation-related decision latitude is low (nurses). Individual scores on the JCQ were not significantly related to physiological measures in this study, however. Inclusion of contrasting occupations may be necessary to properly evaluate the relationships between individually reported job strain and heightened physiological stress responses in studies of working women.
Authors: Tainya C Clarke; Hosanna Soler-Vila; David J Lee; Kristopher L Arheart; Manuel A Ocasio; William G Leblanc; Lora E Fleming Journal: Prev Med Date: 2011-08-23 Impact factor: 4.018
Authors: Susan K Roepke; Brent T Mausbach; Thomas L Patterson; Roland Von Känel; Sonia Ancoli-Israel; Alexandrea L Harmell; Joel E Dimsdale; Kirstin Aschbacher; Paul J Mills; Michael G Ziegler; Matthew Allison; Igor Grant Journal: J Health Psychol Date: 2010-08-13
Authors: Luciana Fernandes Portela; Lucia Rotenberg; Ana Luiza Pereira Almeida; Paul Landsbergis; Rosane Harter Griep Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2013-11-27 Impact factor: 3.390
Authors: Saana Karelius; Jussi Vahtera; Jaana Pentti; Annika S Lindroos; Pekka Jousilahti; Olli J Heinonen; Sari Stenholm; Teemu J Niiranen Journal: Int Arch Occup Environ Health Date: 2019-12-31 Impact factor: 3.015
Authors: Natsu Sasaki; Kotaro Imamura; Tran T T Thuy; Kazuhiro Watanabe; Nguyen T Huong; Kazuto Kuribayashi; Asuka Sakuraya; Bui M Thu; Nguyen T Quynh; Nguyen T Kien; Nguyen T Nga; Nguyen T H Giang; Truong Q Tien; Harry Minas; Melvyn Zhang; Akizumi Tsutsumi; Norito Kawakami Journal: J Occup Health Date: 2019-09-21 Impact factor: 2.708