Social support and stress: Influences on lipid reactivity

Social support protects individuals from cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, possibly by attenuating physiological stress responses. The presence of supportive individuals during acute psychological stress has been shown to influence cardiovascular functioning, but in inconsistent directions. The purpose of this study was to test the notion that the presence of a supportive friend during an acute stressor would influence lipid reactivity. Forty healthy women participated in the study. One half engaged in a speech task while a friend was present; the other half participated in a speech task without a friend present. The speech stressor elicited elevations in total cholesterol and triglycerides under both conditions. Those with a friend present had greater total cholesterol reactivity to stress, relative to those without a friend present. These findings are similar to some studies in the cardiovascular literature, and may be due to increased threat appraisal among those with a friend present. This study was supported in part by National Institutes of Health grants HL-48363 and HL-48411, and by MO1-RR0034 to The Ohio State University General Research Clinical Research Center. We gratefully acknowledge the expert assistance of Karen Cook. The assays were performed in the laboratory of Dr. Linda Bausserman of the Division of Cardiology in the School of Medicine at Brown University.