Perceived stress precedes declines in Well-being: A prospective study of stress, well-being, hair cortisol, and low-grade inflammation in hospital employees.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Chronic low-grade inflammation may help explain the relationship between stress, well-being, and disease, but the pathway and temporal order have not yet been tested prospectively. To understand the pathways between perceived stress, well-being, C-reactive protein, and hair cortisol, we investigated the temporal ordering of these variables in a sample of hospital employees.

Methods

Random-intercepts cross-lagged panel models were conducted using three 6-monthly waves of data collected from new employees at a German hospital (N = 296, 77.7 % female, M age = 28.59) in a prospective cohort study. Self-reported data on perceived stress and well-being, hair strands for hair cortisol concentration, and capillary blood samples for C-reactive protein were collected

SUBMITTER: Jones MT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12775997 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature