TY - JOUR
T1 - Haemodynamic reactions to acute psychological stress and smoking status in a large community sample
AU - Phillips, Anna
AU - Der, G
AU - Hunt, K
AU - Carroll, Douglas
N1 - MEDLINE® is the source for the MeSH terms of this document.
PY - 2009/9/1
Y1 - 2009/9/1
N2 - Exaggerated haemodynamic reactions to acute psychological stress have been implicated in a number of adverse health outcomes. This study examined, in a large community sample, the cross-sectional associations between haemodynamic reactivity and self-reported smoking status. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured at rest and in response to a 3-minute arithmetic stress task. Participants were classified as current, ex-, or non-smokers by their response to a simple prompt. Smokers had significantly smaller SBP and DBP reactions to acute stress than ex- and non-smokers; current and ex-smokers had lower HR reactivity. These effects remained significant following adjustment for a host of variables likely to be associated with reactivity and/or smoking. Although the act of smoking acutely increases haemodynamic activity, the present findings contribute to a growing body of literature showing that smokers have blunted reactivity to mental stress. They also support the hypothesis that blunted reactivity may be characteristic of a range of dependencies. The present results also suggest that smoking status needs to be considered in the design and analysis of stress reactivity studies.
AB - Exaggerated haemodynamic reactions to acute psychological stress have been implicated in a number of adverse health outcomes. This study examined, in a large community sample, the cross-sectional associations between haemodynamic reactivity and self-reported smoking status. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured at rest and in response to a 3-minute arithmetic stress task. Participants were classified as current, ex-, or non-smokers by their response to a simple prompt. Smokers had significantly smaller SBP and DBP reactions to acute stress than ex- and non-smokers; current and ex-smokers had lower HR reactivity. These effects remained significant following adjustment for a host of variables likely to be associated with reactivity and/or smoking. Although the act of smoking acutely increases haemodynamic activity, the present findings contribute to a growing body of literature showing that smokers have blunted reactivity to mental stress. They also support the hypothesis that blunted reactivity may be characteristic of a range of dependencies. The present results also suggest that smoking status needs to be considered in the design and analysis of stress reactivity studies.
KW - Smoking
KW - Heart rate
KW - Cardiovascular reactivity
KW - Acute psychological stress
KW - Blood pressure
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?partnerID=yv4JPVwI&eid=2-s2.0-67651067919&md5=7fcc022005e6d6e3ff35d561a7c0bbad
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2009.04.005
DO - 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2009.04.005
M3 - Article
C2 - 19397938
VL - 73
SP - 273
EP - 278
JO - International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology
JF - International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology
IS - 3
ER -