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Motivational orientation mediates the association between depression and cardiovascular reactivity to acute psychological stress
Author(s) -
Keogh Tracey M.,
Howard Siobhán,
O’Riordan Adam,
Gallagher Stephen
Publication year - 2021
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/psyp.13732
Subject(s) - psychology , reactivity (psychology) , heart rate , depression (economics) , association (psychology) , blood pressure , anxiety , clinical psychology , hospital anxiety and depression scale , mechanism (biology) , medicine , psychiatry , psychotherapist , alternative medicine , pathology , economics , macroeconomics , philosophy , epistemology
Recent theoretical developments in cardiovascular reactivity research suggest the association between depression and blunted reactions to stress is linked to motivational factors. Thus, the present study aimed to test whether the association between depressive symptoms and cardiovascular reactivity to acute stress was mediated by motivation; be it intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. One hundred and eighty‐two healthy young adults completed measures of motivation (Global Motivation Scale; GMS), and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; HADS) and had their blood pressure and heart rate monitored throughout a standardised stress testing protocol. Results indicated that depression was negatively associated with both systolic blood pressure (SBP) and heart rate (HR) reactions to the stress task (all p s < .05), such that those who reported higher depressive symptomology displayed a blunted response. Furthermore this relationship was mediated by intrinsic, but not extrinsic motivation; the blunted responses were less pronounced through intrinsic motivation. The present findings add extensively to existing research and confirm that motivation is an underlying mechanism linking depression and cardiovascular reactivity.