EPINEPHRINE AND CORTISOL RESPONSES TO WORK - A TEST OF THE MODELS OF FRANKENHAEUSER AND KARASEK

Both Frankenhaeuser and Karasek have put forward models describing how job demand and control influence epinephrine and cortisol levels. The se models were tested in a sample of 53 women and 51 men in a variety of occupations. They were studied over one rest day and two working da ys. Subjects reported their perceived demand and control and their moo d on each day, as well as providing urine for assessment of urinary ex cretion rates of epinephrine and cortisol. In men, but not women, epin ephrine levels were higher on the working days than on the rest day an d demand was found to covary positively with epinephrine, supporting F rankenhaeuser's model with respect to epinephrine variation in men. Ho wever, cortisol levels were nor elevated on working days compared to t he rest day, and no relationship between job control and cortisol was seen which is in contradiction of Frankenhaeuser's model with respect to cortisol variation. There was some suggestion that demand was most strongly associated with elevated epinephrine in men when job control was low in accordance with Karasek's model, but there was no evidence for such an effect with respect to cortisol.