Behavioral correlates of individual differences in blood pressure reactivity

Abstract

To examine the relationship between (a) individual differences in blood pressure reactivity and (b) behavioral characteristics associated with the Type A, coronary-prone behavior pattern (specifically, verbal response style and the perception of time), 45 subjects (male attorneys) were instructed to perform a frustrating cognitive task while measures of systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP) and pulse pressure (PP) were obtained and subjects' verbal responses recorded on audio tape. It was predicted that subjects showing the largest task-related blood pressure elevations (reactors) would respond to test items verbally in a more “Type A” fashion (i.e. with greater speed, volume and emphasis) and estimate the task period to have lasted longer (i.e. experienced time passing more rapidly) than physiologically less reactive subjects (nonreactors). Auditors' ratings indicated that PP-reactors responded with greater volume and emphasis than PP-nonreactors, and both PP- and SBP-reactors estimated task duration to have been significantly greater than did their nonreactor counterparts. While these findings support the predicted association of Type A-related behavior and blood pressure reactivity (particularly for PP), reactor and non-reactor groups did not differ on a self-report measure of the Type A behavior pattern. Finally, preliminary data regarding the generalizability of differences in reactivity to casual blood pressure measurements obtained during subjects' ordinary activities indicated that SBP-reactors experienced higher peak casual SBPs and greater SBP variability over a six-week interval than did SBP-nonreactors.