Mediating effects of hair cortisol on the mutual association of job burnout and insomnia: A retrospective exploratory study.
BACKGROUNDS
The present study was designed to clarify the mutual association of job burnout and insomnia and to detect the mediating effects of hair cortisol on that association.


METHODS
In all, 68 female employees were recruited for the study from one secondary and one tertiary hospital between October 2018 and November 2018 in Beijing. Participants completed a questionnaire for the collection of demographic data and standardized measures for burnout and insomnia. Hair sample collection and anthropometric measurements were performed at the same time.


RESULTS
Median hair cortisol concentration (HCC) was 5.89 ng/g hair (interquartile range = 2.20-10.74). And ages are between 22 and 51 years old (32.50 ± 6.13), among which 22 were below 30 years, 20 were between 30 and 35 years, and 26 were over 35 years. A majority of Pearson's coefficients were significant, with the exception of that for the correlation between personal accomplishment and HCC or depersonalization. Significant mutual correlations were shown between burnout dimensions and insomnia directly. HCC acted as a mediator in the pathway from emotional exhaustion, depersonalization to insomnia; and no significant mediating effect of HCC in the pathway from insomnia to burnout was found.


CONCLUSIONS
Job burnout may directly or indirectly (through chronically elevated cortisol) increase insomnia risk, whereas insomnia probably promotes burnout. Prospective studies involving different body systems and a larger sample size should be performed to further identify the mechanisms underlying the associations between burnout and insomnia among the working population.
['Wang|Chao|C|', 'Dai|Junming|J|', 'Li|Jue|J|']
D000328:Adult D002055:Burnout, Professional D005260:Female D006197:Hair D006801:Humans D006854:Hydrocortisone D008875:Middle Aged D012189:Retrospective Studies D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders D055815:Young Adult
Mediating effect Hair cortisol Mutual association Burnout Insomnia Female employees