Differential hostility profiles accompany different hemodynamic response patterns

Cardiovascular reactivity has been proposed as a mechanism by which psychosocial variables may lead lo coronary heart disease. Although reactivity as a generalized response has been linked lo psychological factors, there are specific hemodynamic profiles that underlie blood pressure reactivity. This study characterized subsets of young adults as myocardial or vascular reactors, in response to three laboratory tasks: mental arithmetic, videogame, and anger recall interview. Vascular reactors had higher diastolic blood pressure increases to all tasks, whereas reactor groups were equivalent at rest and on systolic blood pressure responses. Correlational analyses were conducted to determine whether psychological dimensions are uniquely associated with myocardial or vascular reactors' cardiovascular responses, at rest and during acute stressors. For myocardial reactors, resting systolic blood pressure was higher in hostile and suspicious individuals, whereas reactivity was linked to impulsivity. For vascular reactors, low trust, low gregariousness, and high depression were associated with diastolic reactivity to tasks. The predictive validity of hostility, distrust, sociability, and depression for cardiovascular pathology may vary with reactor type.