Workplace social support and ambulatory cardiovascular responses in New York City traffic agents

This study examined the associations of social support from co-workers and supervisors to workday ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) and heart rate (HR). Specifically, analyses examined the association of workplace social support to the following measures of cardiovascular activity: (1) baseline cardiovascular activity (i.e., BP and HR) at the start of the workday, (2) cardiovascular levels throughout the workday, and (3) acute changes in BP and HR to work stress. Participants included male (N = 36) and female (N = 34) New York City Traffic Enforcement Agents. Results were that workplace social support was negatively associated with ABP levels and acute responses to stress, although the specific effects depended on the source of the support, the gender of the participant, and the agent's level of productivity. For women, immediate supervisor support was negatively associated with the following: baseline systolic blood pressure (SBP) after controlling for other sources of support, workday SBP and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) levels. In women, unit supervisor support was also negatively associated with workday HR level. For men, co-worker support was negatively associated with workday SBP level. Across both genders, immediate supervisor support and co-worker support were negatively associated with acute increases in SBP during stressful work periods. In low productive agents, co-worker support was also associated with lower HR levels throughout the workday and smaller acute increases in HR to work stress. Overall, the results suggest that social support may lead to improved cardiovascular health by attenuating both average BP and HR throughout the workday and acute increases in BP and HR during stressful work periods. Future researchers should examine the ability of interventions to both increase social support in the workplace and improve cardiovascular functioning.