The effects of the spontaneous presence of a spouse/partner and others on cardiovascular reactions to an acute psychological challenge

Abstract

The presence of supportive others has been associated with attenuated cardiovascular reactivity in the laboratory. The effects of the presence of a spouse and others in a more naturalistic setting have received little attention. Blood pressure and heart rate reactions to mental stress were recorded at home in 1028 married/partnered individuals. For 112 participants, their spouse/partner was present; for 78, at least one other person was present. Women tested with a spouse/partner present showed lower magnitude systolic blood pressure and heart rate reactivity than those tested without. Individuals tested with at least one non-spousal other present also displayed attenuated reactivity. This extends the results of laboratory studies and indicates that the spontaneous presence of others is associated with a reduction in cardiovascular reactivity in an everyday environment; spouse/partner presence would appear to be especially effective for women.Key words: acute stress, blood pressure, presence of spouse/partner, pulse rate, reactivity, social support 3 Exaggerated cardiovascular reactions to acute psychological challenge are considered a risk factor for cardiovascular pathology (Lovallo & Gerin, 2003;Schwartz et al., 2003) and several prospective studies have now shown consistently that high reactivity confers a modest additional risk for elevated blood pressure and other cardiovascular outcomes (e.g. Carroll, Ring, Hunt, Ford, & Macintyre, 2003;Markovitz, Raczynski, Wallace, Chettur, & Chesney, 1998;Treiber et al., 2003). In addition, a number of epidemiological studies have shown that social support is negatively associated with morbidity and mortality (e.g. Berkman & Syme, 1979;House, Robbins, & Metzner, 1982;Orth-Gomer & Johnson, 1987;Rosengren, Orth-Gomer, Wedel, & Wilhelmsen, 1993); marriage, strong social ties, and emotional support from others have all been linked to better general, including cardiovascular, health outcomes (e.g. Gordon & Rosenthal, 1995;Marmot et al., 1975;Robles & Kiecolt-Glaser, 2003;Verbrugge, 1979). It has been hypothesised that social support may enhance cardiovascular health, at least in part, by attenuating the cardiovascular reactions to stress exposure (Kamarck, Peterman, & Raynor, 1998;Smith & Gerin, 1998).A number of studies have now tested the proposition that the presence of supportive others attenuates cardiovascular reactivity (Lepore, 1998). A range of paradigms have been employed, but virtually all studies, for convenience, have tested student samples, particularly female students. For the most part, studies that have examined the effects of active social support have had students give a speech, usually on a controversial topic, and compared cardiovascular reactions to this task in different social contexts: alone, with challenging or non-supportive others present, with actively supportive others present. In general, those with supportive others present exhibited lower reactivity than those tested in other conditions (Christenfeld et al., 1997;Gerin, Pieper, Levy,...

Social Support, Social Intimacy, and Cardiovascular Reactions to Acute Psychological Stress

“…In contrast, another study found no main effect of sex of supporter (25). We have recently reported that women undergoing a mental stress test in their homes in the presence of their male partners showed attenuated reactions relative to men tested with their female partners present (26). Clearly, sex of supporter warrants further attention.…”

“…However, it is possible that females feel less evaluated when support is provided by a male friend as this person is less similar to themselves than a female friend. Further, a previous study where women were tested either with or without the presence of their spouse/partner showed attenuated SBP and HR reactivity when their spouse/partner was present (26). Similarly, in response to the cold pressor test, participants tested with their spouse present were characterised by attenuated reactivity (34).…”

“…A subsequent ANCOVA was undertaken to discount the possibility than any support effects were the result of confounding. In this analysis, PASAT performance was entered as a covariate, since we have previously found it to be a good measure of task engagement and to correlate with cardiovascular reactivity (26).…”

“…The PASAT has been shown in numerous studies to consistently perturb the cardiovascular system (e.g. 26,28,29), and to demonstrate good test-retest reliability (30). Briefly, single digit numbers were presented by audio CD player.…”

Preliminary evidence that exercise dependence is associated with blunted cardiac and cortisol reactions to acute psychological stress

“…The PASAT has been shown previously to reliably perturb both the cardiovascular system and salivary cortisol (Phillips et al, 2006Ring et al, 2002). Participants were presented with a series of single digit numbers by compact disc and required in each case to add the present number to the number previously presented and call out the answer.…”