Coping and Parental History of Cardiovascular Disorders Influence Blood Pressure in Women Tested During Different Phases of Their Menstrual Cycles

Abstract

An anger-provocation paradigm was used to assess coping and stress reactivity in 20 women with a positive parental history of cardiovascular disorders and 14 women whose parents had no cardiovascular disease. Frequency of seeking social support in the natural environment was assessed, as were systolic and diastolic blood pressures, while the women performed anger-inducing arithmetic and speech-stressor tasks during the premenstrual and post-menstrual phases. Premenstrually, the women with a positive cardiac history sought support less frequently than those with a negative history. No differences were found between the groups postmenstrually. When the women were identified according to the frequency with which they sought social support, those who more often sought support registered lower baseline blood pressure levels than those women who less often sought support during both cycle phases. Extending the stress-buffering effects of social support to include efforts at seeking support is discussed.

Index Terms:

• blood pressure
• coping
• menstrual cycle
• women

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anne Fontana

At the time this article was completed, both Dr Fontana and Ms Pontari were with the Department of Psychology at Colgate University, Hamilton, New York; Ms Pontari is now at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Dr Nash is with the State University of New York Health Science Center in Syracuse.