An investigation into the effects of social evaluation on cardiovascular and endocrine responses to the CO₂ stress test in humans

Figures & data

Table I.  Mean (SEM) scores for daily hassles and mood across the three experimental conditions.

	Mean (SEM), N = 25
	Standard condition	Mirror condition	Video condition
Daily hassles	33.32 (4.98)	25.13 (2.42)	32.39 (4.01)
Tension	8.26 (1.31)	6.36 (0.77)	7.13 (0.78)
Depression	8.09 (1.65)	6.04 (1.10)	4.52 (0.85)
Anger	7.57 (1.27)	5.48 (0.87)	4.83 (0.63)
Vigour	9.83 (0.96)	10.45 (1.16)	12.13 (0.98)
Fatigue	6.96 (1.19)	7.09 (1.24)	7.26 (0.87)
Confusion	5.83 (0.83)	5.61 (0.79)	5.74 (0.71)

SEM, standard error of the mean.

Figure 1.  Mean (and standard error, SE) heart rate responses during the CO₂ stress test period for the standard, mirror and video conditions (n = 25).

Figure 2.  Mean (and SE) systolic blood pressure responses during the CO₂ stress test period for the standard, mirror and video conditions (n = 25).

Figure 3.  Mean (and SE) cortisol responses during the CO₂ stress test period for the standard, mirror and video conditions (n = 25).

Table II.  Results from repeated measures ANOVA examining endocrine and cardiovascular reactivity and recovery during the CO₂ stress test across the three experimental conditions.

Condition	Mean (SEM)	F (df)	η^2	p
Salivary cortisol reactivity (nmol/l)
Standard	0.54 (0.17)	0.544 (2,48)	0.026	0.584
Mirror	0.52 (0.23)
Video	0.08 (0.43)
Salivary cortisol recovery (nmol/l)
Standard	− 0.20 (0.21)	0.629 (2,48)	0.030	0.539
Mirror	0.06 (0.16)
Video	− 0.04 (0.12)
Heart rate reactivity (BPM)
Standard	1.51 (1.97)	0.012 (2,48)	0.001	0.988
Mirror	3.99 (1.41)
Video	4.82 (1.80)
Heart rate recovery (BPM)
Standard	0.08 (1.84)	1.462 (2,48)	0.062	0.243
Mirror	− 2.56 (1.52)
Video	− 0.68 (2.38)
Systolic blood pressure reactivity (mm/Hg)
Standard	− 8.86 (2.76)	0.609 (2,48)	0.027	0.548
Mirror	− 5.39 (1.62)
Video	− 12.77 (2.40)
Systolic blood pressure recovery (mm/Hg)
Standard	11.24 (3.24)	1.784 (2,48)	0.075	0.180
Mirror	7.88 (1.88)
Video	16.08 (2.71)

SEM, standard error of the mean; nmol/l, nanomoles per litre; BPM, beats per minute; mm/Hg, millimetres of mercury.

Figure 4.  Gender differences in mean (and SE) cortisol reactivity, heart rate reactivity and heart rate recovery scores between the three conditions (male, n = 6; female, n = 19). Significant gender effect, p = 0.034, p = 0.004, p = 0.051, respectively (ANOVA).