Effects of race, sex, and socioeconomic status upon cardiovascular stress responsivity and recovery in youth

Abstract

Cardiovascular (CV) responsivity to and recovery from acute laboratory stressors, as derived from aggregate scores of CV functioning during and after postural change, video game challenge, social competence interview, and parent–child conflict discussion, were evaluated in 272 youths [mean age 13.5±2.6 years; 162 Blacks (77 males, 85 females), 110 Whites (60 males, 50 females)], all with a positive family history of essential hypertension. Blacks demonstrated greater systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP) and lower heart rate responsivity compared to Whites (all P values<0.05). A race by neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) interaction for SBP responsivity was also observed where low SES Whites and high SES Blacks had the greatest responsivity compared to their same race cohorts. Additionally, upper SES Whites had the lowest total peripheral resistance responsivity. For recovery, Blacks and males exhibited higher SBP during recovery compared to Whites and females, respectively. These findings extend previous studies and provide further support for the hypothesis that recovery from stress is a potentially informative component of the contribution of stress responsivity to cardiovascular disease.