Biobehavioral stressors, laboratory investigation, and the risk of hypertension

both hereditary and environmental factors have been implicated [in the origin and maintenance of hypertension] / because behavior may be defined in terms of interactions between organisms and their environments, it is appropriate to investigate the role that behavioral factors [especially biobehavioral stressors] may play in the pathogenesis of hypertension stress / genetic-behavioral interactions / hypotheses and causal processes [reactivity as a risk marker, arteriolar structural changes, autoregulation, central drive] / psychophysiological strategy / situational stereotypy and differential patterns of response / total peripheral resistance and hypertensive risk (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved

UCope COVID: Risk Estimation Bias Project

Amelia's Master's Thesis Projec

Appraisal, Coping, Task Performance, and Cardiovascular Responses During the Evaluated Speaking Task

Appraisal, coping task performance, and cardiovascular responses were examined among men high and low in speech anxiety who prepared and performed a speech under evaluative conditions. Task appraisals were made before and after the evaluated speaking task; subjects also reported on coping reactions during preparation and performance. Speech-anxious men saw the task as more threatening: They were more stressed, anxious, distracted, and aware of their emotions, and focused on the passage of time; they also reported fewer positive self-statements. In presenting, they made less eye contact and performed more poorly. Performance was related to several appraisal and coping variables-notably, positive self-statements. Cardiovascular arousal was elevated in both groups during preparation and presentation, but the groups did not differ in blood pressure and heart rate responses. Discussion centers on implications of the findings for literatures on reactivity, anxiety, and coping

Behavioral indices of threat and challenge in Hispanic adolescents and hemodynamic responses to a speech stressor

Behavioral ratings of performance and nervousness during a speech were used to divide participants ( n=54) into threat and challenge groups. Comparisons on cardiac output, Heather index, heart rate, vascular resistance, and blood pressure reactivity indicated greater myocardial responses for the challenge group. This study extends the threat–challenge literature by employing behavioral definitions of constructs and examining a Hispanic adolescent sample

Cardiovascular responsivity to stress in adolescents with and without persistently elevated blood pressure

Objectives: The goal of this study was to compare the cardiovascular responses to behavioural stressors of three groups of adolescents who differed in blood pressure status across assessments. Design: Casual blood pressure of adolescents who were identified as having elevated blood pressure during a school screen was re-evaluated in the laboratory. The adolescents were classified into two groups: (i) those with consistently elevated blood pressure across school and laboratory assessments and (i) those with labile blood pressure whose blood pressure in the laboratory was below 130/80 mmHg. A comparison group of adolescents with consistently normal blood pressure was also included. Methods: Cardiovascular parameters were assessed during rest and during two behavioural stressors, the evaluated speaking task and the mirror tracing task. Results: Adolescents with elevated blood pressure were more vascularly responsive across stressors than adolescents with labile blood pressure, who, in turn, were more reactive than adolescents with normal blood pressure. Conclusions: These results suggest that vascular reactivity to behavioural stressors may be useful in predicting risk of hypertension because of its sensitivity in distinguishing adolescents with consistently elevated blood pressure from those with labile blood pressure and those with normal blood pressure

Elevated body mass index and obesity among ethnically diverse adolescents

To examine trends in prevalence and odds of elevated body mass index (BMI) and obesity among ethnically diverse adolescents. Data from countywide (Miami-Dade) health screenings from 1999-2005. Weight, height, days/week of vigorous activity, hours/day of sedentary activity, parental hypertension, and eating habits were reported. 77,050 adolescents, average age 15.6 years (51% girls, 9.4% White non-Hispanic, 59.2% White Hispanic, 16.4% African American, 7% Black Hispanic, and 8% Black Caribbean). Prevalence and ethnic differences in odds of obesity (BMI > or = 95th percentile) and elevated BMI (BMI > or = 85th percentile), adjusting for academic years, days/week of vigorous activity, and hours/day of sedentary activity. Prevalence of elevated BMI and obesity increased from 1999-2005. Overall, White non-Hispanics had lower odds of obesity and elevated BMI than African Americans and White Hispanics. African American girls displayed higher odds of obesity and elevated BMI than Black Hispanic girls and higher odds of elevated BMI than Black Caribbean girls. African American boys showed higher odds of obesity and elevated BMI than Black Caribbean boys. Black Hispanic girls had greater odds of obesity and elevated BMI than White Hispanic girls, but boys were similar. This study is among the first to examine BMI status in both Black and Hispanic subgroups. Viewing Black and Hispanic ethnic subgroups as homogeneous obscures important weight-related differences. Further research is warranted to determine factors contributing to differential risk

Identification of unmet palliative care needs of nursing home residents: a scoping review protocol

Nursing homes residents have complex characteristics such as life limiting illnesses, multiple comorbidities, and frailty as well as high mortality rates often making them eligible for palliative care (Milte et al., 2022; Kristensen et al., 2023). However, frequently, nursing home residents do not receive palliative care relative to their need resulting in unmet care needs (Lima and Miller, 2018; Temkin-Greener et al., 2015). Identifying residents with unmet palliative care needs has been recognised as a key area for research (Carpenter et al. 2020; Hawley, 2017). Therefore, this scoping review aims to map the available evidence on identifying unmet palliative care needs of nursing home residents