Relationship between Self-Ratings of Recovery and Morning Salivary Cortisol

• The understanding of how self-ratings of work-related rest and recovery relate to cortisol output is poor. This study aimed to investigate the associations between self-ratings of 15 items of rest and recovery and salivary cortisol measured every second hour during two work days. Data came from 12 female and 13male white-collar workers and were analyzed by linear regression analyses and repeated measures ANOVA. The results showed that poor rest and recovery was associated with high levels of morning cortisol. The strongest relationships between single items and salivary cortisol emerged for ”rested in the morning”,”rested after a weekend”, ”feel energetic during the working day”, ”tired during the working day”, ”sufficient sleep” and ”worry about something”. Furthermore, significant interaction effects were found between sex and “rested after a weekend” and “worry about something”. To conclude, the findings show linkages between self-ratings of rest and recovery and cortisol levels, particularly morning cortisol. This suggests that self-ratings of rest and recovery provide important information on physiological recovery in terms of cortisol output.

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