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Overcommitment but not Effort–Reward Imbalance Relates to Stress-Induced Coagulation Changes in Teachers

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Background

Stress-related hypercoagulability might link job stress with atherosclerosis.

Purpose

This paper aims to study whether overcommitment, effort–reward imbalance, and the overcommitment by effort–reward imbalance interaction relate to an exaggerated procoagulant stress response.

Methods

We assessed job stress in 52 healthy teachers (49 ± 8 years, 63% women) at study entry and, after a mean follow-up of 21 ± 4 months, when they underwent an acute psychosocial stressor and had coagulation measures determined in plasma. In order to increase the reliability of job stress measures, entry and follow-up scores of overcommitment and of effort–reward imbalance were added up to total scores.

Results

During recovery from stress, elevated overcommitment correlated with D-dimer increase and with smaller fibrinogen decrease. In contrast, overcommitment was not associated with coagulation changes from pre-stress to immediately post-stress. Effort–reward imbalance and the interaction between overcommitment and effort–reward imbalance did not correlate with stress-induced changes in coagulation measures.

Conclusions

Overcommitment predicted acute stress-induced hypercoagulability, particularly during the recovery period.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Emmy Noether research grant KU 1401/4-1, KU 1401/4-2, and KU 1401/4-3 of the German Research Foundation (DFG) awarded to B.M.K., as well as by the International Research Training Group IRTG funded by the DFG (GRH 1389/1; B.M.K. and S.B. are members of the IRTG).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Psychosomatic Medicine, Bern University Hospital (Inselspital) and University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Roland von Känel M.D.

  2. Jacobs Center on Lifelong Learning and Institutional Development, Jacobs University Bremen, Campus Ring 1, 28759, Bremen, Germany

    Silja Bellingrath Ph.D. & Brigitte M. Kudielka Ph.D.

  3. Department of Theoretical and Clinical Psychobiology, Graduate School of Psychobiology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany

    Silja Bellingrath Ph.D. & Brigitte M. Kudielka Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Roland von Känel M.D.
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  2. Silja Bellingrath Ph.D.
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  3. Brigitte M. Kudielka Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Brigitte M. Kudielka Ph.D..

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von Känel, R., Bellingrath, S. & Kudielka, B.M. Overcommitment but not Effort–Reward Imbalance Relates to Stress-Induced Coagulation Changes in Teachers. ann. behav. med. 37, 20–28 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-009-9082-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-009-9082-y

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