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Neuroendocrine and cardiovascular reactivity to stress in mid‐aged and older women: Long‐term temporal consistency of individual differences
Author(s) -
Burleson Mary H.,
Poehlmann Kirsten M.,
Hawkley Louise C.,
Ernst John M.,
Berntson Gary G.,
Malarkey William B.,
KiecoltGlaser Janice K.,
Glaser Ronald,
Cacioppo John T.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/1469-8986.00039
Subject(s) - heart rate , stressor , psychology , vagal tone , consistency (knowledge bases) , blood pressure , epinephrine , reactivity (psychology) , catecholamine , norepinephrine , medicine , cardiology , autonomic nervous system , clinical psychology , geometry , mathematics , alternative medicine , pathology , dopamine
We report long‐term temporal consistency of stress‐related neuroendocrine and cardiovascular variables in mid‐aged and older women who performed mental math and speech stress tasks two times approximately 1 year apart. Epinephrine, norepinephrine, ACTH, cortisol, cardiac preejection period (PEP), respiratory sinus arrhythmia, heart rate (HR), blood pressure, and respiration rate were measured at baseline, after or during stressors, and 30 min posttask. Although there were exceptions, year‐to‐year Spearman coefficients showed mostly moderate to high consistency ( r s≈.5–.8) for baseline, stressor, and posttask values. For reactivity, HR and PEP were most consistent ( r s≈.65); consistency for other variables was moderate to low ( r s≈.1–.4). Means of most variables changed from year to year. Results support the use of baseline, stressor, and posttask values in longitudinal studies.