The effects of physical and mental stress on cardiovascular reactivity in a group of African American female college students

Abstract

This research combined two studies to investigate stress reactivity in worriers and nonworriers. The first studies compared changes in blood pressure, heart rate, and skin temperature elicited by mental stress (mental arithmetic) in eight worriers and eight nonworriers. The second study extended the first by adding a physical stressor (cold pressor) to the methodology while investigating 13 worriers and 14 nonworriers. Results of these two studies indicated that during mental stress, worriers had a significantly greater increase in systolic blood pressure and heart rate than nonworriers. This particular response to mental stress suggests that worry may well have a physiological concomitant. The cognitive nature of worry is believed to influence the sympathetic nervous system via beta-adrenergic receptors. The effects of chronic worry on an individual's response to an acute laboratory stressor are discussed.