Thesis
Positive affect and cardiovascular reactivity in response to social versus non-social laboratory stressors
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
2008
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/104074
Abstract
Increasing evidence suggests that positive affect may have a beneficial or protective effect on cardiovascular health. Laboratory investigations suggest that this relationship may be influenced by associations between personality characteristics and the magnitude and duration of acute cardiovascular responses to stress. Specifically, positive affect may associated with less (lower magnitude and duration) cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) to stress (Raikkonen et al., 1999). Prior research suggests that negative dispositions such as hostility are more reactive to social as opposed to non-social stressors (Smith & Gallo, 2001). The present study sought to examine whether reduced stress reactions are more evident in social versus non-social stressors to identify a potential mechanism in the relationship between dispositional positive affect (DPA) and health outcome. A sample of 90 undergraduate men and women completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule - Extended Version (PANAS-X; Watson & Clark, 1994) followed by a counterbalanced, within-subjects lab protocol involving cold pressor (non-social) and selfdisclosure speech (social) tasks. Cardiovascular reactivity and recovery as well as state affect were assessed for both tasks. Multiple regression analyses revealed that participants higher in dispositional negative affect (DNA) experienced greater increases in systolic blood pressure (SBP) and medial arterial pressure (MAP), ts > 1.66, ps < .10, as well as more anxiety and anger, ts > 1.78, ps < .08 and less happiness, ts < -1.98, ps < .053, during the disclosure task. Multiple regression analyses revealed that participants higher in DPA showed greater decreases in SBP and MAP during the recovery portion of the disclosure task, ts < -1.66, ps < .10. These findings suggest that during a social stressor, individuals higher in DNA may experience greater CVR, whereas individuals higher in DPA are able to more quickly recover following a social stressor. Additionally, during the cold pressor task, higher DPA was associated with decreased heart rate in women and decreased MAP in all participants, ts < -1.76, ps < .085, but no significant effects were found for DPA and cold pressor recovery.
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Details
- Title
- Positive affect and cardiovascular reactivity in response to social versus non-social laboratory stressors
- Creators
- Alexandra L. Terrill
- Contributors
- John P. Garofalo (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Psychology, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; Pullman, Wash. :
- Identifiers
- 99900525277901842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis