Key result
The spontaneous presence of a spouse/partner or others during mental stress testing at home was associated with attenuated systolic blood pressure and heart rate reactivity, especially in women.
Why the study?
Does the spontaneous presence of a spouse/partner or others reduce cardiovascular reactivity to acute psychological stress in married/partnered individuals?
Observational (n=1,028)
Does the spontaneous presence of a spouse/partner or others reduce cardiovascular reactivity to acute psychological stress in married/partnered individuals?
The spontaneous presence of a spouse/partner is associated with attenuated cardiovascular reactivity to acute psychological stress in women, extending laboratory findings to an everyday environment.
May indicate social presence buffers women's cardiovascular reactivity at home; extends lab findings to everyday settings but remains hypothesis-generating.
The presence of supportive others has been associated with attenuated cardiovascular reactivity in the laboratory. The effects of the presence of a spouse and others in a more naturalistic setting have received little attention. Blood pressure and heart rate reactions to mental stress were recorded at home in 1028 married/partnered individuals. For 112 participants, their spouse/partner was present; for 78, at least one other person was present. Women tested with a spouse/partner present showed lower magnitude systolic blood pressure and heart rate reactivity than those tested without. Individuals tested with at least one nonspousal other present also displayed attenuated reactivity. This extends the results of laboratory studies and indicates that the spontaneous presence of others is associated with a reduction in cardiovascular reactivity in an everyday environment; spouse/partner presence would appear to be especially effective for women.
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Phillips et al. (2006) conducted an observational in Cardiovascular reactions to mental stress (n=1,028). Spontaneous presence of a spouse/partner or others vs. Tested without spouse/partner or others present was evaluated on Blood pressure and heart rate reactions to mental stress. The spontaneous presence of a spouse/partner or others during mental stress testing at home was associated with attenuated systolic blood pressure and heart rate reactivity, especially in women.
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