Cardiovascular recovery from acute laboratory stress: Reliability and concurrent validity

Author(s): Linden, W., Paul, D.

Journal/Book: Psychosom Med. 2000; 62: 530 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19106-3621, USA. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. 648-654.

Abstract: Objective: We assessed the value of laboratory measures of cardiovascular recovery across four criteria: reliability across multiple tasks, reliability across a 3-year time interval, ability to predict daily ambulatory blood pressure, and interrelationships with coronary risk factors and psychosocial variables. Methods: Three hundred twenty-nine healthy adults (mean age = 27.1 years) completed a two-part protocol consisting of 1 day of laboratory testing and 1 day of ambulatory monitoring. The laboratory protocol included a 15-minute baseline assessment followed by three 5-minute laboratory challenges (mental arithmetic, speech, and handgrip). Five-minute recovery periods followed each exercise. One hundred twenty-five participants returned after 3 years to repeat the protocol. Results: When aggregated across tasks, cardiovascular recovery showed acceptable levels of internal consistency (cu values = 0.7) and proved relatively stable across time [r values = 0.22-0.35). Recovery values statistically improved the prediction of daily ambulatory readings above baseline and stress reactivity laboratory values (p values <.001) but were largely unrelated to coronary risk factors or psychosocial measures. Conclusion: These results suggest that cardiovascular recovery from acute laboratory stress can be treated as a stable individual difference variable that can improve standard laboratory-based predictor models of ambulatory readings.

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Keyword(s): blood pressure; reactivity; recovery; stress; laboratory testing; BLOOD-PRESSURE; ANGER EXPRESSION; ARTERY DISEASE; MENTAL STRESS; REACTIVITY; HYPERTENSION; PROGRESSION; ATHEROSCLEROSIS; RESPONSES

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