Premium
Influences of Potential for Hostility, Type A Behavior, and Parental History of Hypertension on Adolescents’ Cardiovascular Responses During Stress
Author(s) -
McCann Barbara S.,
Matthews Karen A.
Publication year - 1988
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.1469-8986.1988.tb01885.x
Subject(s) - hostility , type a and type b personality theory , stressor , psychology , blood pressure , etiology , clinical psychology , isometric exercise , developmental psychology , medicine , psychiatry , personality , social psychology
We investigated the influences of Type A behavior, potential for hostility, and parental history of diagnosed hypertension on adolescents’ cardiovascular responses to three behavioral stressors. The participants were 72 male and 99 female adolescents enrolled in grades 6 to 12. Results showed that adolescents with a hypertensive parent had larger diastolic blood pressure responses during all three stressors than did adolescents without hypertensive parents; this effect was particularly pronounced among the Type As. Adolescents rated as high on potential for hostility had elevated systolic and diastolic blood pressure responses, particularly during isometric exercise. Results regarding parental history of hypertension and Type A replicate previous studies in adolescents. Results regarding potential for hostility showed for the first time that early signs of hostility are related to psychophysiological responses thought to be pathophysiological mechanisms in the etiology of cardiovascular diseases.