title: Effort-reward imbalance, overcommitment, and cellular immune measures among white-collar employees.
abstract: We investigated whether chronic job stress, i.e., effort-reward imbalance (ERI) and overcommitment is associated with cellular immunity among 190 male and 157 female white-collar daytime employees (mean age 38; range 22-69 years). Participants provided a blood sample for the measurement of circulating immune (natural killer (NK), B, and T) cell counts and NK cell cytotoxicity (NKCC) and completed a questionnaire survey during April to June 2002. Stepwise multiple linear regression analyses revealed that NK cells were associated with effort (β=-.230; p=.013), reward (β=.169; p=.047), and ERI (β=-.182; p=.047) scores but not with overcommitment in men; reward score was positively associated with NKCC (β=.167; p=.049) and inversely associated with B cells (β=-.181; p=.030). No significant associations were found in women. Although the picture remains less clear in women, our findings suggest a potential immunological pathway linking adverse working conditions and stress-related disorders in men.
authors: Division of Applied Research and Technology, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH 45226, USA. cji5@cdc.gov
authors: Akinori
authors: A
authors: Nakata
authors: Masaya
authors: M
authors: Takahashi
authors: Masahiro
authors: M
authors: Irie
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002452:Cell Count; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003601:Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000502:physiology*; D007564:Japan; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012201:Reward; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
chemical_list: D008565:Membrane Proteins