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Impact of psychological distress on cardiovagal reactivation after a speech task

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 28, pages 399–401 (2014)Cite this article

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Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is more prevalent in individuals with Type-D personality(distressed) 1, 2, 3 who tend to avoid confrontation in social situations (social inhibition) and have a greater tendency to experience negative emotions (negative affectivity). 4 Although psychological distress is associated with increased risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes and impaired heart rate (HR) modulation, 5, 6 studies examining cardiac autonomic modulation in distressed individuals through heart rate variability (HRV) and baroreflex functioning during, and more importantly, after stress are scarce. Accordingly, we investigated blood pressure (BP), baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) and HRV responses before, during and after an interpersonal speech task (ST) in individuals with high distress scores (HD) and low distress scores (LD).

Type-D personality, also known as the distressed, is associated with increased likelihood of adverse cardiovascular outcomes including myocardial infarction and tends to be comorbid with major depressive disorder and anxiety.3, 7 In the general population distress also carries, in addition to a cardiovascular risk, a mental health burden as suggested by higher levels of depression and anxiety.8 The biological mechanism underlying the link between increased CVD and psychological distress is unknown. However, it appears that autonomic deregulation may be implicated. Prior studies have documented blunted HR and impaired cardiovagal modulation in response to social stress in distressed individuals.9 Martin et al.10 documented that distressed individuals displayed lower HRV during experimental stress than non-distressed individuals, but they did not examine the immediate recovery period after stress. As cardiovascular recovery from stress is an important window of time when adverse cardiovascular events may occur,11 and as recovery may be altered in those with increased psychosocial risk factors (anxiety, depression and stress),12, 13 it is reasonable to examine cardiac autonomic modulation in distressed individuals before, during and after stress. We hypothesized that individuals with HD would have impaired cardiovagal modulation and reduced BRS after a stressor.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Family Institute, The Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

    A P Koutnik, M A Sanchez-Gonzalez, R W May, R M Hughes & F D Fincham

  2. Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, The Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

    M A Sanchez-Gonzalez

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  1. A P Koutnik
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Correspondence to M A Sanchez-Gonzalez.

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Koutnik, A., Sanchez-Gonzalez, M., May, R. et al. Impact of psychological distress on cardiovagal reactivation after a speech task. J Hum Hypertens 28, 399–401 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2013.127

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