Daring the 5 years of this investigation, resting blood pressure and pressor reactivity were measured in 292 white children and 46 black children in , 1988, all children were in the third grade; in 1991, the children were in the seventh grade. Reactivity was assessed with a standardized psychological stressor, a television video game. Children displayed significant stability of absolute blood pressure and heart rate reactivity between grades 3 and 7. At all examinations, black children demonstrated blood pressure reactivity that was significantly greater in magnitude (both absolute level and change from resting measurements) than that of white children. Black children exhibited significantly greater heart rate reactivity only when defined as change from the resting measurements; absolute levels of heart rate reactivity were comparable for blacks and whites. For black children, blood pressure reactivity in 1987 was the strongest predictor of resting blood pressure (both systolic and diastolic) in 1991. Among white children, resting blood pressure was the strongest predictor of future resting blood pressure. Further research is needed to determine if ethnic differences in children's pressor reactivity are associated with ethnic differences in the prevalence of hypertension. {Hypertension 1992;2
After measuring blood pressure and heart rate at rest and during a video game procedure in 477 children enrolled in 3rd grade, 434 (91%) children had these measurements repeated a year later in 4th grade. Black children demonstrated greater blood pressure and heart rate reactivity than White children in both years, and an increase in heart rate reactivity from 3rd to 4th grade. Gender effects were inconsistent. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures during the video game were more highly correlated from year-to-year than were the resting measures. Regression analysis indicated that systolic reactivity was significantly related to subsequent systolic pressure at rest, particularly among Black girls. Diastolic reactivity was associated with subsequent resting diastolic pressure only among White children. Associations between reactivity and future blood pressure were independent of initial resting blood pressure. This study suggests that cardiovascular reactivity to psychological stress may be one important factor in future level of blood pressure and that the increased heart rate reactivity of Black children may be associated with the prevalence of hypertension among Black adults.
SUMMARY In a previous study, we reported that black children demonstrated greater cardiovascular reactivity than did white children to the psychological stress of a television video game. Reliance on urban volunteers and the wide age range of the children may have limited conclusions concerning the generalizability of those results. In the present study, 481 of 484 children enrolled in the third grade of the public schools of an entire rural county in Tennessee were examined with the same video game procedure used previously. Results indicated greater heart rate and blood pressure reactivity among black children than among white children. Thus, the previous results were replicated. The greater prevalence of hypertension among black adults may relate to the greater reactivity among black children; reactivity may be either a marker or a mechanism in the development of hypertension. (Hypertension 11: 308-311, 1988) KEY WORDS • hypertension • cardiovascular reactivity • psychological stress racial differences • children K CENT longitudinal studies have indicated that the magnitude of a child's cardiovascular (CV) reactivity to a stress procedure (e.g., cold pressor or mental arithmetic) was associated with subsequent blood pressure (BP) and hypertension.1 " 3 However, results have not been consistent. 4 ' 3 A recent report from our laboratory provided cross-sectional support for the hypothesis that CV reactivity was a marker or mechanism in the development of hypertension.6 Expansion of our sample by over 100 children and utilization of different statistical procedures did little to alter our conclusion that black children compared with white children exhibited exaggerated CV reactivity. 7 The greater reactivity of black children may relate to the greater prevalence of hypertension among black adults.The present investigation was undertaken to delineate further the relationship between race and CV reac-
Alcohol misuse and associated negative consequences experienced by college students persists as a public health concern. Quantitative studies demonstrate variability in subjective evaluations of consequences, and how positively or negatively consequences are evaluated is associated with drinking behavior. Lacking is a qualitative exploration of how drinkers evaluate consequences and what influences those evaluations. We conducted a series of single-gender focus groups (13 groups; 3-7 per group; n = 62, 48% female) with college student drinkers. Questions focused on: (a) types of negative and positive consequences experienced (b) personal perceptions of negative consequences and (c) factors influencing those perceptions. Verbatim transcripts were content analyzed using applied thematic analysis with NVivo software. Several negative consequences not included in current assessment tools emerged. Reactions to these "negative" consequences of alcohol misuse were not labeled as uniformly negative by participants. Contextual influences on reactions to consequences included: social factors (e.g., normative perceptions, social context, discussions with friends), level of intoxication, concurrent positive consequences, time, and alcohol as an excuse. Future research should focus on consequence measure development and examine interactions between contextual and individual influences on subjective consequence evaluations. (PsycINFO Database Record
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