title: Relationship between work strain, need for recovery after work and cumulative cortisol among kindergarten teachers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to explore whether work strain (i.e., job demands and job control) and subjective need for recovery (NFR) after work are related to measured concentration of cumulative cortisol.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were 43 teachers recruited from kindergarten. They self-reported their NFR, job demands and job control over the last month. NFR was measured with the NFR scale. Job demands and control were assessed with the Chinese version of the Job Content Questionnaire. Hair cortisol was used to represent cumulative cortisol excretion. Hair cortisol concentration (HCC) was measured with high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant correlations were found between job demands or job control and HCC. NFR was significantly and inversely correlated with HCC (r = -0.41, p = 0.006). The inverse association between NFR and HCC remained significant when age and job demands and job control were controlled for (p = 0.02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis declines with the accumulation of NFR after working time.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Child Development and Learning Science of Ministry of Education (Southeast University), and Institute of Child Development and Education, Research Center for Learning Science, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China.
authors.forename: Xingliang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Child Development and Learning Science of Ministry of Education (Southeast University), and Institute of Child Development and Education, Research Center for Learning Science, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China.
authors.forename: Yapeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Child Development and Learning Science of Ministry of Education (Southeast University), and Institute of Child Development and Education, Research Center for Learning Science, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Child Development and Learning Science of Ministry of Education (Southeast University), and Institute of Child Development and Education, Research Center for Learning Science, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: Coronel Institute of Occupational Health, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, PO Box 22700, 1100 DE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Judith K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Sluiter
authors.affiliation: Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
authors.forename: Renlai
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Child Development and Learning Science of Ministry of Education (Southeast University), and Institute of Child Development and Education, Research Center for Learning Science, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, China. dengrcls@seu.edu.cn.|Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China. dengrcls@seu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Huihua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Deng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D005178:Faculty; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D012146:Rest / Q000523:psychology*; D057566:Self Report; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: Hair cortisol; Job control; Job demands; NFR; Work strain