Associations between digital work stressors, burnout, and hair cortisol concentration: A prospective study

Abstract

Working conditions in the age of digitalization bear risks for chronic stress exposure and eventually development of burnout. Analysis of hair cortisol concentration (HCC) is increasingly used to capture cumulative cortisol secretion. However, prospective studies including repeated measurements of work stress and HCC are scarce. Therefore, we aimed at assessing associations of changes in (digital) work stressors, burnout, and HCC. N=94 (75 females, Mage=29.68 years) eligible hospital employees reported on job strain (work overload, job control), digital work stressors (work interruptions, multitasking), burnout symptoms (exhaustion, mental distance), relevant confounders (sociodemographic, health- and employment-related characteristics), and provided hair samples at baseline and 6 months later. We calculated change-scores and multivariate linear regressions. Burnout increased significantly (MT1=1.96, MT2=2.16), while HCC decreased (MT1=9.45, MT2=5.28, pg/mg) over time. We found effects of work overload on burnout (β=0.42, p<.001), but none of job control. Moreover, work interruptions and multitasking were associated with burnout (β=0.40, β=0.44, p<.001), also after additionally adjusting for work overload. Work interruptions were further associated with HCC (β=0.20, p=.036), while no associations of the other predictors with HCC were observed. There were no linear relationships between burnout and HCC. This study extends the limited evidence base on prospective associations between workplace stress and HCC. To our knowledge, for the first time, a link of a digital work stressor with HCC was revealed. Future research however, ought to replicate observed effects in other occupational samples and scrutinize potential non-linear associations of burnout and HCC.