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Individuals exhibiting exaggerated blood pressure responses to stress are at increased risk for later cardiovascular disease. Engagement in brief bouts of moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity may reduce instances of these exaggerated blood pressure responses. While observational work has shown that periods of light physical activity may also be associated with reduced blood pressure responses to stress in daily life, the few experimental studies involving light physical activity have methodological limitations that temper conclusions. The current investigation sought to understand the effects of brief bouts of light physical activity on blood pressure responses to psychological stress. In a between‐person, single‐session experimental design, 179 healthy, young adults were randomized to 15 min of light physical activity, moderate physical activity, or sitting before engaging in a 10‐min computerized Stroop Color‐Word Interference Task. Blood pressure readings were collected throughout the study session. Surprisingly, the light physical activity participants showed higher systolic blood pressure responses to stress than control participants by 2.9 mmHg (F (2, 174) = 3.49, ηp2 = 0.038, p =.03), whereas no significant differences were shown between moderate physical activity and control groups (F (2, 174) = 2.59, ηp2 = 0.028, p =.078). These findings show that light physical activity may not be related to reduced blood pressure responses to stress in an experimental session involving healthy, college‐aged adults and question the extent to which brief bouts of physical activity may reduce acute blood pressure responses to stress. In a well‐controlled experimental study to examine the effect of different intensities of brief physical activity on blood pressure responses to stress, we found that engaging in brief bouts of light or moderate physical activity did not significantly reduce blood pressure responses to stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of the substantial changes in female reproductive hormones that occur during normal pregnancy on cardiovascular responses to psychological and physical challenges. Twenty-one healthy normotensive women performed serial subtraction, minor image tracing, and isometric handgrip exercise tasks prior to pregnancy and again during the second trimester of pregnancy. A control group of 34 healthy women who did not intend to become pregnant and were nonpregnant were also tested in the same protocol twice, 6-10 months span. Results showed that the pregnant women exhibited a reduced diastolic blood pressure response to all three tasks, relative to their pre-pregnancy levels, whereas nonpregnant controls did not change in their diastolic blood pressure response across time. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that elevations In female reproductive hormones diminish blood pressure responses during challenge because of dampened sympathetic nervous system activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of exercise on subsequent psychophysiological responses to mental stress were assessed in a study of 30 normotensive male volunteers. Participants were randomly allocated to three experimental conditions -- 20-min exercise at 100 Watts (high exercise), 20-min exercise at 25 Watts (iow exercise), or 20-min no exercise (control). After a recovery period of 20 min, all subjects performed a mental arithmetic task for four 5-min trials. Blood pressure and heart rate were monitored continuously using a Finapres, and respiration and electrodermal activity were also recorded. Buroreceptor reflex control of heart rate was assessed using power spectrum analysis. Exercise produced consistent increases in systolic blood pressure, heart rate, and subjective tension, together with reductions in systemic resistance and baroreflex sensitivity. The systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate reactions to mental arithmetic were significantly blunted in the high exercise compared with control conditions, with the iow exercise group showing an intermediate pattern. Subjective responses to mental stress were unaffected by prior exercise. The pattern of hemodynamic response was not a result of changes in baroreflex sensitivity. The mechanisms underlying this result are discussed in relation to the discrepancies between subjective and physiological responses to mental stress, and the implications for the use of exercise in stress management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of the normal menstrual cycle on lipoprotein, cardiovascular, and neuroendocrine stress responses. Fifteen normally-cycling, healthy women participated in a series of behavioral tasks during the menstrual, follicular, and luteal phases of their menstrual cycle. These women had established menstrual cycle regularity for the three months prior to enrollment in this study, were free from menstrual cycle disturbances, biochemically confirmed that they ovulated, and displayed appropriate patterns of reproductive hormone fluctuations during the study period. Heart rate, blood pressure, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and total cholesterol all demonstrated significant elevations from baseline levels during tasks. No differences in the magnitude of stress responses during the three menstrual cycle phases were noted for any physiological variable. We conclude that the hormonal fluctuations that occur in healthy, normally-cycling women during the menstrual cycle do not influence the stress responses that were investigated here. Significant influences of menstrual cycle phase previously reported in the literature, albeit not in a consistent direction, may have been due to the recruitment of women with menstrual cycle irregularities, and to the failure to adequately verify menstrual cycle phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loneliness is linked with all‐cause mortality and coronary heart disease. Altered neuroendocrine and inflammatory responses to stress constitute potential pathways linking loneliness and ill‐health. Stress responsivity is modified in people with Type 2 diabetes, but it is unclear whether loneliness influences biological stress responses in this population. We assessed interleukin‐6 (IL‐6), interleukin‐1 receptor antagonist (IL‐1RA), monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1 (MCP‐1), and cortisol responses to acute stress in 135 people with Type 2 diabetes. Loneliness was measured used the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale. Loneliness was inversely associated with cortisol output poststress (B = −4.429, p = 0.019) independent of age, sex, education, marital status, body mass index, and smoking. Lonelier individuals had raised MCP‐1 concentrations 75 min poststress independent of covariates (B = 0.713, p = 0.022). No associations between loneliness and IL‐6 or IL‐1RA concentrations were detected. These results suggest that loneliness is associated with disturbances in stress responsivity in people with diabetes, and the impact of loneliness on health in people with diabetes may be mediated in part through dysregulation of inflammatory and neuroendocrine systems. Future research is required to understand if such changes increase the risk of poorer outcomes in this population. Loneliness is a predictor of poorer physical health outcomes. In healthy samples, loneliness is associated with altered biological responses to laboratory stress. Here, we demonstrate for the first time the link between loneliness and stress responses in people with diabetes. Our findings suggest that loneliness is linked with stress‐related biological disturbance in this population. Specifically, we detected blunted cortisol stress responses and raised basal monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1 levels poststress in lonelier individuals with diabetes. These results offer the possibility that the influence of loneliness on health in people with diabetes may be partially mediated through neuroendocrine and inflammatory dysregulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]