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Sex Differences in Physiological Reactions to Real Life Stress and Their Relationship to Psychological Variables
Author(s) -
Doornen Lorenz J.P.
Publication year - 1986
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/j.1469-8986.1986.tb00688.x
Subject(s) - psychology , anxiety , heart rate , blood pressure , depression (economics) , physiology , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , medicine , psychiatry , economics , macroeconomics
The present experiment investigates whether there are sex differences in physiological reactions to real life stress and whether these reactions are differentially related to psychological variables in males and females. In 29 male and 23 female students physiological measurements were taken on the day of an examination and on a normal routine day. Behavioral characteristics were measured using questionnaires. Serum cholesterol level, systolic blood pressure, and heart rate were found to be higher on the examination day. These reactions did not differ between the sexes. Males showed a larger increase of urine‐adrenaline excretion than did females. In males, cholesterol level and response were related to achievement motivation. Ambulatory monitored HR during the exam correlated with state anxiety and state depression in females, but not in males. The analysis of sex specific expression of behavioral traits in physiological parameters, including the CHD risk factors, is of potential value for a better understanding of mechanisms mediating between behavior and CHD risk.