Vigilance, active coping, and cardiovascular reactivity during social interaction in young men.

This study of 72 undergraduate men examined the effects of two determinants of cardiovascular response—active coping and vigilance—on blood pressure and heart rate responses to social stressors. Observation of a future debate partner (i.e., vigilance) evoked larger increases in blood pressure than did observation of a less relevant person, apparently through the combination of increases in cardiac output and vascular resistance. Preparation and enactment of efforts to exert social influence (i.e., active coping) evoked heightened blood pressure and heart rate responses through increased cardiac contractility and output. Thus, both vigilance and active coping in social contexts increased cardiovascular reactivity, but apparently through different psychophysiological processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Links between physical fitness and cardiovascular reactivity and recovery to psychological stressors: A meta-analysis.

A meta-analysis of published studies with adult human participants was conducted to evaluate whether physical fitness attenuates cardiovascular reactivity and improves recovery from acute psychological stressors. Thirty-three studies met selection criteria; 18 were included in recovery analyses. Effect sizes and moderator influences were calculated by using meta-analysis software. A fixed effects model was fit initially; however, between-studies heterogeneity could not be explained even after inclusion of moderators. Therefore, to account for residual heterogeneity, a random effects model was estimated. Under this model, fit individuals showed significantly attenuated heart rate and systolic blood pressure reactivity and a trend toward attenuated diastolic blood pressure reactivity. Fit individuals also showed faster heart rate recovery, but there were no significant differences in systolic blood pressure or diastolic blood pressure recovery. No significant moderators emerged. Results have important implications for elucidating mechanisms underlying effects of fitness on cardiovascular disease and suggest that fitness may be an important confound in studies of stress reactivity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of racial stressors and hostility on cardiovascular reactivity in African American and Caucasian men.

This study examined the effects of race-related stressors and hostility on cardiovascular reactivity in 31 African American and 31 Caucasian men. Participants viewed 3 film excerpts that depicted neutral, anger-provoking (but race-neutral), and racist situations. Participants exhibited significantly greater diastolic blood pressure reactivity to anger-provoking and racist stimuli compared with neutral stimuli. In addition, high hostility was associated with higher recovery systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels after exposure to the film. Although the results failed to confirm previous reports of greater reactivity to racism in African Americans, the findings suggest that diastolic blood pressure levels may remain elevated after exposure to racist stimuli. These results indicate that even indirect exposure to interpersonal conflict elicits significant reactivity, which can persist after exposure to the stressor, especially among high-hostile men. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological stress and platelet activation: Differences in platelet reactivity in healthy men during active and passive stressors.

Blood platelets have been found to play a major role in the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease. This study examined the effects of active and passive stressors on platelet function and assessed the possible effects of perceived control on platelet reactivity to stress. Heart rate, blood pressure, catecholamine levels, and platelet factor 4 (PF 4) were assessed in 55 healthy males during resting baseline (25 min), 7-min stressor/task periods, and recovery (60 min). Results showed significant increases in PF 4 during the stressor/task periods for both active and passive stressor groups. Psychological stress involving both active and passive participation had a direct effect on platelet activation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-disclosure and coping styles in men with cardiovascular reactivity

The purpose of this study was to investigate self-disclosure, emotion-focused, and problem-focused coping styles among men with borderline hypertension and two groups of normotensive men differentiated by parental hypertension. Because blood pressure reactivity may discriminate between hypertensive and normotensive men, subjects in these three groups were categorized as high or low cardiovascular reactors based on their blood pressure response to a mental arithmetic task. Self-disclosure and coping styles were investigated in relation to status effects within the doctor-patient relationship. Men with exaggerated blood pressure reactivity were less self-disclosive and used fewer emotion-focused coping strategies than men with no blood pressure reactivity. Normotensives with a history of parental hypertension were less self-disclosive than normotensives without a history of parental hypertension.     

Relaxation training and cardiovascular response to experimental stressors.

Blood pressure (BP) and heart rate were measured in 36 Ss (mean age 33 yrs) during periods of rest, intentional relaxation, unsignaled reaction time (RT), cold pressor tasks, and recovery periods, both before and after 4 wks of progressive relaxation training, transcendental meditation analog treatment, or an assessment control condition. Both types of relaxation training resulted in significant reductions in BP, but not heart rate, levels across all posttreatment assessment intervals (baseline, stress periods, and stress recovery). Relaxation training did not reduce cardiovascular response during stress periods, but did result in more rapid BP reductions in stress recovery periods. Scores on the Jenkins Activity Survey were related to posttreatment BP level during the RT task, with high scorers showing higher BPs than low scorers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender and ethnicity in children's cardiovascular reactivity: 7 years of study.

A total of 295 children (127 White boys, 15 Black boys, 133 White girls, and 20 Black girls) participated in reactivity examinations in 1987 (all were in 3rd grade; age, M?=?9.1 years), 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, and 1993 (all were in 9th grade; age, M?=?15.1 years). An analysis of residualized reactivity change values indicated consistent and significant ethnicity effects (Blacks greater than Whites) for systolic and diastolic blood pressure and for heart rate. Gender effects were also apparent for both systolic and diastolic blood pressure (boys greater than girls). These data suggest that the transition from childhood to adolescence is associated with a significant pattern of ethnic differences in reactivity, although the association of this pattern with the development of cardiovascular risk and disease remains to be ascertained. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cue reactivity in young marijuana smokers: A preliminary investigation.

To develop and evaluate the feasibility of a cue reactivity paradigm for young marijuana smokers, the authors set up a laboratory procedure involving neutral and marijuana-related imagery, video, and in vivo cues. Fifteen adolescents and young adults with cannabis use disorders completed the procedure, which included continuous measurement of skin conductance and heart rate. Participants also completed questionnaires regarding marijuana craving before, during, and after cue presentations. Higher levels of craving and skin conductance were observed during marijuana cue presentations. The procedure appears to elicit cue reactivity among adolescents and young adults with cannabis use disorders and should be further evaluated and refined with a larger sample. Implications for future studies are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Collective efficacy versus self-efficacy in coping responses to stressors and control: A cross-cultural study.

This study examined how cultural differences and efficacy perceptions influence the role of job control in coping with job demands. Perceiving higher control mitigated the effects of demands on psychological health symptoms and turnover intentions only among American bank tellers reporting high job self-efficacy. Among American tellers reporting low job self-efficacy, perceived control exacerbated the effects of demands. However, in a matched Hong Kong sample, collective efficacy interacted in the same way with control and demands as job self-efficacy had in the American sample. These differences appear to be explained by the individual attributes of idiocentrism and allocentrism that are linked to the societal norms of individualism and collectivism, respectively. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Serum lipids and cardiovascular reactivity to stress

Several studies have reported an association between serum lipid levels and cardiovascular reactivity to laboratory stressors. Their findings, however, are equivocal. The inconsistencies may be due to shortcomings such as the small number of subjects, the inclusion of patient groups, no control for medication, and no control for age effects. Two studies are presented investigating the relationship in large groups of adolescent and middle-aged males and females. Cholesterol, triglycerides and HDL were measured. Subjects were exposed to mental stressors, and in one study also to a cold pressor test. In addition to heart rate and blood pressure, in one study impedance cardiography was used to measure pre-ejection period, stroke volume and total peripheral resistance. Canonical correlation analysis suggested an association between triglycerides and decreased cardiac reactivity to mental stressors in middle-aged females. Trends in the same direction were found in both middle-aged males and females with respect to reactivity to the cold pressor. These associations, however, were not confirmed when the extreme deciles of the triglyceride distributions were compared with respect to stress reactivity. The fact that associations were completely absent in youngsters but sometimes showed up in older persons suggested an age dependency of the association. In post hoc analyses, indeed, some evidence was found for stronger cardiac responsivity being associated with cholesterol specifically in relatively older males. In females, in contrast to this, the association between triglycerides and cardiac responsivity was stronger in the younger group. More detailed measurement techniques, of specifically vascular processes, may be needed to explore further the effects of sex and age on the association between lipids and stress reactivity.     

Teachers’ stressors and strains: A longitudinal study of their relationships.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 17(1) of International Journal of Stress Management (see record 2010-02418-002). In the article, “Teachers’ Stressors and Strains: A Longitudinal Study of Their Relationships” by Arie Shirom, Amalya Oliver, and Esther Stein (International Journal of Stress Management, 2009, Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 312-332), the two co-authors’ affiliations were incorrectly listed. The co-authors’ correct affiliations are as follows: Amalya Oliver, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Esther Stein, Beit Berl Educational College.] The authors tested the hypothesized unidirectional or bidirectional effects of 5 types of teachers’ work-related stressors on each of the 4 types of psychological strain: somatic complaints, burnout, and intrinsic and extrinsic job dissatisfaction. The authors used structural regression analyses to analyze the responses of a representative sample of 404 high school teachers who had completed both our T1 (beginning of school year) and T2 (end of school year) questionnaires. The authors found support for the expected unidirectional effects of the T1 work-related stressors on the respondents’ T2 somatic complaints (with baseline somatic complaints controlled for), and also for the expected unidirectional effects of T1 intrinsic and extrinsic job dissatisfaction on the T2 values of the five types of stressors (with baseline stressors controlled for). Only partial support was found for the expected bidirectional relationships between the stressors and teachers’ burnout. The authors suggest that the directionality across time of the relationships between stressors and strains may depend on the intrinsic properties of the strain under consideration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reported exposure and emotional reactivity to daily stressors: The roles of adult age and global perceived stress.

A central goal of daily stress research is to identify resilience and vulnerability factors associated with exposure and reactivity to daily stressors. The present study examined how age differences and global perceptions of stress relate to exposure and emotional reactivity to daily stressors. Sixty-seven younger (Mage = 20) and 116 older (Mage = 80) adults completed a daily stress diary and measures of positive and negative affect on 6 days over a 14-day period. Participants also completed a measure of global perceived stress. Results revealed that reported exposure to daily stressors is reduced in old age but that emotional reactivity to daily stressors did not differ between younger and older adults. Global perceived stress was associated with greater reported exposure to daily stressors in older adults and greater stress-related increases in negative affect in younger adults. Furthermore, across days on which daily stressors were reported, intraindividual variability in the number and severity of stressors reported was associated with increased negative affect, but only among younger adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cardiac autonomic reactivity and recovery in predicting carotid atherosclerosis: The cardiovascular risk in young finns study.

The present study examined the association of cardiac autonomic task-induced reactivity and recovery to preclinical atherosclerosis. Thirty-three men and 33 women aged 24-39 years participated in the ongoing epidemiological Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study. The authors measured heart rate (HR), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and preejection period (PEP) during the mental arithmetic and speech tasks in 1999. Carotid atherosclerosis was assessed by measuring the thickness of the common carotid artery intima-media complex (IMT) with ultrasound in 2001. Higher HR, RSA, and PEP reactivity were associated with lower IMT values even after adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors (lipid levels, obesity, and blood pressure). In addition, better HR recovery after the mental arithmetic task was associated with lower IMT values, and this association persisted after all adjustments. Thus, higher task-induced cardiac autonomic reactivity and better HR recovery were related to less preclinical atherosclerosis. The authors concluded that cardiac pattern of reactivity and quick recovery may be associated with better cardiovascular health, and therefore all reactivity occurring in challenging situations should not automatically be considered as potentially pathological. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychophysiological reactivity to mental arithmetic stress in Black and White normotensive men.

34 Black and 42 White male normotensives 34–55 yrs old performed a mental arithmetic task while blood pressure, heart rate, and skin conductance were recorded. Compared with Whites, Blacks had significantly higher baseline diastolic blood pressure and lower skin conductance levels. These effects persisted during performance of the mental arithmetic task. When baseline differences were covaried, there were no significant physiological effects associated with the task. There were no significant race or family history effects, and task performance did not influence the outcome. Failure to demonstrate greater cardiovascular reactivity in Blacks and all men with a positive family history of hypertension is discussed with regard to possible survivor effects and methodologic limitations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acute psychophysiologic reactivity and risk of cardiovascular disease: A review and methodologic critique.

Recent behavioral and biomedical research has suggested that psychophysiologic responsiveness (reactivity) to emotional stress may be a marker of processes involved in the development of cardiovascular disorders. The assessment of reactivity focuses on acute changes in functioning as opposed to the sole assessment of resting levels of variables. Evidence is reviewed that links behaviorally induced cardiovascular and endocrine changes to coronary heart disease and essential hypertension. Particular attention is given to methodologic issues involving measurement. Different tasks and situations appear to elicit different patterns of physiologic responses. Reactivity per se should currently not be regarded as a proven risk factor. It is suggested that evidence does, however, justify continued laboratory and naturalistic hypothesis-testing research. The authors recommend methodologic studies to identify (a) the psychologic dimensions of stimuli that elicit reactivity in different subject groups, and (b) the patterns of physiologic responses produced. Such research would set the stage for epidemiologic studies to further examine relations between behavior and disease processes. (5 ? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived racism and cardiovascular reactivity and recovery to personally relevant stress.

This study evaluated cardiovascular responses (CVR) to an active speech task with blatantly discriminatory (BRC) versus neutral (NRC) stimuli and an anger recall task in a sample of Black men (N = 73; age 18 to 47). Diastolic blood pressure scores were higher for NRC versus BRC stimuli during anger recall (p = .05). Moreover, persons in the NRC group who perceived high levels of racism (vs. no racism or BRC group) during active speech showed larger increases in blood pressure across postspeech rest, anger recall, and subsequent rest (p = .03). The notable elevation in CVR in response to an ambiguous event extends current models of racism suggesting that subtle racism is a psychosocial stressor that erodes health through chronically elevated CVR. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Heart volume and cardiovascular mortality. A 16 year follow-up study of 1984 healthy middle-aged men

The possible association between heart size measured during a cardiovascular screening examination and cardiovascular mortality was studied in 1984 healthy men aged 40-59 years. At the 16-year follow-up 278 had died, 150 from cardiovascular diseases. Cardiovascular mortality was 2.2 times higher among the 122 men with heart size > or = 500 ml.m-2 than among those with heart size < 500 ml.m-2. This association was, however, exclusively confined to men with physical fitness below median in whom the corresponding mortality ratio was 4.6 (95% confidence interval 2.5-8.4; P < 0.001) after adjustment for age, smoking, cholesterol, blood pressure and heart rate. Heart size measurements from routine chest X-rays is fast, easy, inexpensive and appears to provide valuable, independent screening information in healthy, middle-aged men.     

Psychosocial work stressors in the development and maintenance of insomnia: A prospective study.

This study is aimed at examining whether psychosocial work stressors are related to the development and maintenance of insomnia. A prospective design was used with a baseline and a 1-year follow-up questionnaire (N = 1,530). The results showed that among individuals with no insomnia at baseline, high work demands increased the risk of developing insomnia 1 year later. Among participants with insomnia at baseline, high leader support decreased the risk of still reporting insomnia at follow-up. Finally, low influence over decisions and high work demands were related to the maintenance of insomnia. The results indicate that perceived work stressors are related to the development and maintenance of insomnia. This might have implications for how insomnia is conceptualized as it places work stressors in the model and for how interventions at different stages of insomnia are implemented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcohol cue reactivity, negative-mood reactivity, and relapse in treated alcoholic men.

Relapsed alcoholic individuals frequently report that negative emotional states trigger their return to drinking. A parametric laboratory study was conducted to assess the separate and combined effects of exposure to alcohol-related stimuli and induced negative moods in abstinent alcoholic persons. The authors also sought to determine if reactivity to alcohol cues or reactivity to negative mood induction predicted relapse soon after treatment. Men with alcoholism (N?=?50) undergoing inpatient treatment participated in a guided imagery procedure designed to induce negative moods and were then exposed to either their favorite alcoholic beverage or to spring water. Results indicated that both alcoholic beverage presentation and negative affect imagery led to increased subjective reporting of desire to drink. These effects were additive but not multiplicative (i.e., the interaction of mood state with beverage type was not significant). Reported urge to drink during the trial that combined negative mood imagery with alcoholic beverage exposure predicted time to relapse after inpatient discharge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A prospective study of social networks in relation to total mortality and cardiovascular disease in men in the USA

PROBLEM: Recurrent spontaneous abortion occurs in 1 in 500 random matings and usually results in abortion of all pregnancies. If absence of antibody to a paternally derived antigen caused abortion, the woman would be expected to make antibody to the other paternal antigen and abort only half her pregnancies. METHODS: Microvesicles were prepared from equine placentae. Acid-eluted IgG antibody was eluted from the polymorphic R80K antigen and used to type the residual R80K antigen on vesicles or on peripheral blood leucocytes. RESULTS: In several equine sibships all the half-sibs had the same paternal R80K alloantigen. In the extended horse family descended from the stallion Nearco, three allotypes were found. The allele present was usually the grandpaternal one, but exceptions are seen. Whichever allele is transmitted all the progeny have the same alloantigen (probability of this occurring by chance = 2(-45)). CONCLUSION: Because only one paternal allotype is present in all progeny, lack of antibody to the R80K antigen would result in loss of all pregnancies, not one half.