To avoid methodological biases, psychoneuroendocrine studies have generally excluded psychotropic medication users. In workplace stress research, this has limited our ability to understand how psychotropic medication use affects many stress-related measures of interest. In this exploratory study, the effects of psychotropic medication use on stress physiology, occupational stress, and mental health were measured in a sample of healthy adult psychiatric hospital workers (N = 203, 70 % women). Diurnal cortisol was assessed on two non-consecutive work-days at five time-points (e.g., awakening, thirty minutes after awakening, 2 P M, 4 P M and bedtime). Cortisol reactivity was assessed by exposing participants to the Trier Social Stress Test. An allostatic load index was constructed using 19 neuroendocrine, immune, cardiovascular, and metabolic biomarkers. Occupational stress (e.g., job strain, effort-reward imbalance) and psychiatric symptoms (e.g., depression, burnout) were assessed with well-validated self-reports. Results showed that psychotropic medication use had no significant effects on diurnal cortisol profiles; however, psychotropic users had significantly decreased cortisol reactivity to the Trier Social Stress Test and higher allostatic load. Psychotropic users also had decreased effort-reward imbalance, but not job strain. Depressive symptoms did not differ between psychotropic medications users and non-users; however, burnout symptoms were higher among psychotropic medication users than non-users. Taken together, our findings do not warrant the systematic exclusion of psychotropic medication users from psychoneuroendocrine studies if insights into individual differences are sought among workers and other populations exposed to elevated stress.

中文翻译：

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Rx 风险还是阻力？与精神病医院工作人员的生理和心理社会功能相关的精神药物使用

为避免方法论偏见，心理神经内分泌研究通常排除精神药物使用者。在工作场所压力研究中，这限制了我们了解精神药物的使用如何影响许多与压力相关的兴趣指标的能力。在这项探索性研究中，在健康成年精神病医院工作人员（N = 203，70 % 女性）的样本中测量了精神药物使用对压力生理、职业压力和心理健康的影响。在两个非连续工作日的五个时间点（例如，醒来、醒来后 30 分钟、下午 2 点、下午 4 点和就寝时间）评估昼夜皮质醇。通过让参与者接受特里尔社会压力测试来评估皮质醇反应性。使用 19 个神经内分泌、免疫、心血管、和代谢生物标志物。职业压力（如工作压力、努力回报失衡）和精神症状（如抑郁、倦怠）通过经过充分验证的自我报告进行评估。结果表明，精神药物的使用对昼夜皮质醇谱没有显着影响；然而，精神药物使用者对特里尔社会压力测试的皮质醇反应性显着降低，且分配负荷更高。精神药物使用者也减少了努力与回报的不平衡，但没有减少工作压力。精神药物使用者和非使用者之间的抑郁症状没有差异；然而，精神药物使用者的倦怠症状高于非使用者。综合起来，