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- Dahlgren, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Day-to-day variation in saliva cortisol-Relation with sleep, stress and self-rated health.
- 2009
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Ingår i: Biological psychology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-6246 .- 0301-0511.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The objective was to examine the day-to-day variation in cortisol among healthy individuals and its relation to the time of saliva sampling, work, stress and fatigue. During 4 consecutive weeks, 14 office workers provided saliva samples (at awakening, 15min after awakening and at bedtime) and made diary ratings for each day. Results showed a variation in cortisol values between participants but also within individuals. After controlling for the individual differences, results showed that low cortisol levels in the morning were associated with sleepiness at awakening and anxiety, exhaustion, and poor health the day before. High evening levels of cortisol were associated with symptoms of stress and poor self-rated health. Further analysis of the cortisol awakening response (CAR) showed that all participants had a mixture of both a positive and negative responses. During mornings with a negative response participants stayed in bed for a longer time after the initial awakening, which might be a sign of snoozing, thus missing the awakening response.
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| 2. |
- Dahlgren, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Different levels of work-related stress and the effects on sleep, fatigue and cortisol
- 2005
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health. - : Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health. - 0355-3140 .- 1795-990X. ; 31:4, s. 277-285
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives The aim of the study was to relate different levels of work stress to measures of sleep and the diurnal pattern of salivary cortisol and subjective sleepiness. Methods Thirty-four white-collar workers participated under two different conditions. One workweek with a relatively high stress level (H) and one with a lower stress level (L) as measured through self-rated stress during workdays. The workers wore activity monitors, filled out a sleep diary, gave saliva samples (for cortisol), and rated their sleepiness and stress during one workday and one free day. Results During the week with stress the number of workhours increased and total sleep time decreased. Sleepiness showed a significant interaction between weeks and time of day, with particularly high levels towards the evenings of the stress week. Cortisol also showed a significant interaction, with a more flattened pattern, probably due to increased evening levels during the stress week. Stress (restlessness) at bedtime was significantly increased during the stress week. Conclusion The results demonstrate that a workweek with a high workload and much stress increases sleepiness and workhours, impairs sleep, and affects the pattern of diurnal cortisol secretion.
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| 3. |
- Dahlgren, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Overtime work and its effects on sleep, sleepiness, cortisol and blood pressure in an experimental field study
- 2006
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health. - : Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health. - 0355-3140 .- 1795-990X. ; 32:4, s. 318-327
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives Previous studies of long workhours and their effects on stress, sleep, and health show inconclusive results. This inconclusiveness may be partly due to methodological problems such as the use of between-group designs or comparisons before and after reorganizations. In addition, stress is usually a confounder. A within-person design was used to examine the effects of working 8- or 12-hour shifts in the absence of additional stress. Methods In an experimental field study, 16 white-collar workers [9 women, mean age 45.9 (SD 15) years] undertook one workweek with normal workhours (8 hours) and 1 week of overtime with 4 extra hours of regular worktasks (12 hours). The participants wore actigraphs, rated sleepiness (Karolinska Sleepiness Scale) and stress throughout the day, and rated workload and how exhausted they felt. Saliva samples were collected on Mondays and Thursdays for cortisol analysis. On these days, ambulatory heart rate and blood pressure were also measured for 24 hours. Results Overtime was associated with higher levels of exhaustion. Sleepiness showed a significant interaction between conditions, with higher levels at the end of the workweek featuring overtime. Total sleep time was shorter in the overtime week. There were no significant differences between ratings of stress and workload. Cortisol showed a circadian variation but no main effect of condition. Conclusions One week of overtime work with a moderate workload produced no main effects on physiological stress markers. Nevertheless, sleep was negatively affected, with shorter sleeps during overtime work and greater problems with fatigue and sleepiness.
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| 4. |
- Dahlgren, Anna
(författare)
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Work stress and overtime work - effects on cortisol, sleep, sleepiness and health
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In Sweden the National Bureau of Statistics has reported an increase in stress-related disorders and sleep problems since the mid-1990’s. They also report that the number of hours of overtime worked has increased. Previous research on work-related stress and overtime work has demonstrated associations with altered physiological arousal, increased risk for stress related diseases, shorter sleep, greater fatigue and impaired performance. However, there is a lack of knowledge on the effects within individuals. The general aim of the thesis was to investigate the effect of overtime work and increased work stress on sleep, the diurnal pattern of cortisol, sleepiness and subjective stress in a within-subject design. In addition, it examined individual differences in the diurnal cortisol response to stress.We used a combination of methods – questionnaires, sleep and wake diaries, objective measures of sleep, stress hormones (salivary cortisol) and ambulatory measures of heart rate and blood pressure. Studies followed office workers during two different conditions of (I) high/low work stress and (II) overtime work respectively. The individual differences in the cortisol response to stress from study I prompted study III. In this study we examined two groups that showed different cortisol responses to stress.In conclusion, the results (I) demonstrated that a week with higher workload and stress affects physiological stress markers such as cortisol, and is associated with increased sleepiness and problems of unwinding at bedtime, shorter sleep duration and longer work hours. Furthermore (II) overtime work, under conditions of relatively low workload, was shown to be associated with modest effects on physiological markers of arousal. More pronounced effects were found on sleep and fatigue, with greater problems during overtime work. Study III indicated that individual differences in cortisol response to stress maybe related to fatigue and exhaustion.
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