Mark Cropley

Mental Stress Induces Transient Endothelial Dysfunction in Humans

BackgroundMental stress has been linked to increased morbidity and mortality in coronary artery disease and to atherosclerosis progression. Experimental studies have suggested that damage to the endothelium may be an important mechanism. Methods and ResultsEndothelial function was studied in 10 healthy men (aged 50.4±9.6 years) and in 8 non–insulin-dependent diabetic men (aged 52.0±7.2 years). Brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD, endothelium dependent) and response to 50 &mgr;g of sublingual glyceryl trinitrate (GTN, endothelium independent) were measured noninvasively by use of high-resolution ultrasound before and after (30, 90, and 240 minutes) a standardized mental stress test. The same protocol without mental stress was repeated on a separate occasion in the healthy men. In healthy subjects, FMD (5.0±2.1%) was significantly (P <0.01) reduced at 30 and 90 minutes after mental stress (2.8±2.3% and 2.3±2.4%, respectively) and returned toward normal after 4 hours (4.1±2.0%). Mental stress had no effect on the response to GTN. In the repeated studies without mental stress, FMD did not change. The diabetic subjects had lower FMD than did the control subjects (3.0±1.5% versus 5.0±2.1%, respectively;P =0.02) but showed no changes in FMD (2.7±1.1% after 30 minutes, 2.8±1.9% after 90 minutes, and 3.1±2.3% after 240 minutes) or GTN responses after mental stress. ConclusionsThese findings suggest that brief episodes of mental stress, similar to those encountered in everyday life, may cause transient (up to 4 hours) endothelial dysfunction in healthy young individuals. This might represent a mechanistic link between mental stress and atherogenesis.

Job strain and anger expression predict early morning elevations in salivary cortisol.

Objective: The objectives of this study were to test the hypothesis that high job demands and low job control (job strain) are associated with elevated free cortisol levels early in the working day and with reduced variability across the day and to evaluate the contribution of anger expression to this pattern. Methods: One hundred five school teachers (41 men and 64 women) classified 12 months earlier as high (N = 48) or low (N = 57) in job strain according to the demand/control model sampled saliva at 2-hour intervals from 8:00 to 8:30 hours to 22:00 to 22:30 hours on a working day. Anger expression was assessed with the Speilberger State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory, and negative affect was also measured. Results: Free cortisol was significantly elevated at 8:00 to 8:30 hours in the high job strain group but not at later times of the day or evening. After adjustment for age and negative affect, cortisol was an average of 21.7% higher early in the working day in the high job strain group. This effect was significantly greater in high job strain teachers, who also reported high anger-out. The cortisol decline from morning to evening was greater in the high than low job strain individuals. Independently of job strain, women had a higher cortisol concentration at 8:00 to 8:30 hours than men, whereas cortisol concentration was greater in men than women in the middle of the working day between 12:00 and 16:30 hours. Conclusions: Job strain is associated with elevated free cortisol concentrations early in the working day but not with reduced cortisol variability. The interaction with outward anger expression suggests that individual characteristics modulate the impact of chronic work stress on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical system.

An investigation of coping strategies associated with job stress in teachers.

BACKGROUND School teaching is regarded as a stressful occupation, but the perception of the job as stressful may be influenced by coping responses and social support. AIMS To assess the associations between teacher stress, psychological coping responses and social support, taking into account the plaintive set engendered by negative affectivity. METHOD Questionnaire survey of 780 primary and secondary school teachers (53.5% response rate). RESULTS In stepwise multiple regression, social support at work and the coping responses behavioural disengagement and suppression of competing activities predicted job stress independently of age, gender, class size, occupational grade and negative affectivity. High job stress was associated with low social support at work and greater use of coping by disengagement and suppression of competing activities. CONCLUSIONS It is suggested that behavioural disengagement and suppression of competing activities are maladaptive responses in a teaching environment and may actually contribute to job stress. Coping and social support not only moderate the impact of stressors on well-being but influence the appraisal of environmental demands as stressful.

Goal setting as an outcome measure: a systematic review

Background: Goal achievement has been considered to be an important measure of outcome by clinicians working with patients in physical and neurological rehabilitation settings. This systematic review was undertaken to examine the reliability, validity and sensitivity of goal setting and goal attainment scaling approaches when used with working age and older people. Aims and objectives: To review the reliability, validity and sensitivity of both goal setting and goal attainment scaling when employed as an outcome measure within a physical and neurological working age and older person rehabilitation environment, by examining the research literature covering the 36 years since goal-setting theory was proposed. Methods: Data sources included a computer-aided literature search of published studies examining the reliability, validity and sensitivity of goal setting/goal attainment scaling, with further references sourced from articles obtained through this process. Main findings: There is strong evidence for the reliability, validity and sensitivity of goal attainment scaling. Empirical support was found for the validity of goal setting but research demonstrating its reliability and sensitivity is limited. Conclusions: Goal attainment scaling appears to be a sound measure for use in physical rehabilitation settings with working age and older people. Further work needs to be carried out with goal setting to establish its reliability and sensitivity as a measurement tool.

Effects of preoperative smoking cessation on the incidence and risk of intraoperative and postoperative complications in adult smokers: a systematic review

Objectives: To establish the effect of preoperative smoking cessation on the risk of postoperative complications, and to identify the effect of the timing of preoperative cessation. Data sources: The Cochrane Library Database, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Medline, and CINAHL databases were searched, using the terms: “smoking”, “smoking-cessation”, “tobacco-use”, “tobacco-abstinence”, “cigarett

Job strain, blood pressure and response to uncontrollable stress

”, “complication

Job strain and rumination about work issues during leisure time: A diary study

”, “postoperative-complication

Exploring the relationship between work-related rumination, sleep quality, and work-related fatigue.

”, “preoperative”, “perioperative” and “surg

Job strain, work rumination, and sleep in school teachers

”. Further articles were obtained from reference lists. The search was limited to articles on adults, written in English and published up to November 2005. Study selection: Prospective cohort designs exploring the effects of preoperative smoking cessation on postoperative complications were included. Two reviewers independently scanned abstracts of relevant articles to determine eligibility. Lack of agreement was resolved through discussion and consensus. Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria. Data extraction: Methodological quality was assessed by both reviewers, exploring validation of smoking status, clear definition of the period of smoking cessation, control for confounding variables and length of follow-up. Data synthesis: Only four of the studies specified the exact period of smoking cessation, with six studies specifying the length of the follow-up period. Five studies revealed a lower risk or incidence of postoperative complications in past smokers than current smokers or reported that there was no significant difference between past smokers and non-smokers. Conclusions: Longer periods of smoking cessation appear to be more effective in reducing the incidence/risk of postoperative complications; there was no increased risk in postoperative complications from short term cessation. An optimal period of preoperative smoking cessation could not be identified from the available evidence.

The acute effects of physical activity on cigarette cravings: systematic review and meta‐analysis with individual participant data

OBJECTIVE The association between cardiovascular disease risk and job strain (high-demand, low-control work) may be mediated by heightened physiological stress responsivity. We hypothesized that high levels of job strain lead to increased cardiovascular responses to uncontrollable but not controllable stressors. Associations between job strain and blood pressure reductions after the working day (unwinding) were also assessed. DESIGN Assessment of cardiovascular responses to standardized behavioral tasks, and ambulatory monitoring of blood pressure and heart rate during a working day and evening. PARTICIPANTS We studied 162 school teachers (60 men, 102 women) selected from a larger survey as experiencing high or low job strain. METHODS Blood pressure, heart rate and electrodermal responses to an externally paced (uncontrollable) task and a self-paced (controllable) task were assessed. Blood pressure was monitored using ambulatory apparatus from 0900 to 2230 h on a working day. RESULTS The groups of subjects with high and low job strain did not differ in demographic factors, body mass or resting cardiovascular activity. Blood pressure reactions to the uncontrollable task were greater in high than low job-strain groups, but responses to the controllable task were not significantly different between groups. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure did not differ between groups over the working day, but decreased to a greater extent in the evening in subjects with low job strain. CONCLUSIONS Job strain is associated with a heightened blood pressure response to uncontrollable but not controllable tasks. The failure of subjects with high job strain to show reduced blood pressure in the evening may be a manifestation of chronic allostatic load.