Examining Impacts of Situational Stress on Cardiovascular Physiology During a Vigilance Task

OBJECTIVE: Contemporary stress-health theories posit that vigilance is a candidate biobehavioral process linking stress exposure to cardiovascular disease (CVD). We examined whether experimentally manipulated stress varying in vigilance demand would evoke hypothesized biobehavioral responses and whether persistent vigilance demand was matched by sustained physiological activation. METHODS: A final sample of 135 undergraduate young adults (49% male, 51% female; Mage =19 y, SD age =4 y) was randomized to 1 of 3 videogame task conditions (challenge, threat, neutral) with vigilant behavior demand. Blood pressure, impedance cardiography, and affect were measured during baseline, 30-minute gameplay, and recovery. RESULTS: Consistent with expectations, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) models revealed that engaging in higher vigilance demand games (hypothesized to evoke both threat and challenge) resulted in significantly greater increases in blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) than the neutral game ( F1,107 >8.60, p <0.001), especially in the threat condition. Threat condition participants also demonstrated the least recovery to baseline BP ( F1,106 >4.50, p <0.05). In addition, repeated measures ANCOVAs demonstrated persistent vigilance demand was matched by sustained cardiovascular activation throughout the 30-minute gameplay. CONCLUSIONS: Stress-related vigilance is associated with sustained vascular reactivity and slower recovery. These findings support behavioral vigilance as an ecologically valid behavioral path linking stress to CVD risk in daily life.