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Type D personality and Health: Gender Differences in Psychophysiological Responses to Stress Siobhn Howard Department of Psychology

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Fight or Flight

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The Event Demands vs Resources Psychological Stress RESPONSERESPONSE

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Stress: Friend or Foe?

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Stress and Health: Sporting Results

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Cardiovascular System Vessels contract Heart pumps faster Pumps more volume Increased blood pressure Leads to strain on the cardiovascular vessels Leads to heart disease

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Cardiovascular Reactivity Hypothesis Higher reactivity Higher resting blood pressure 20 years later Increased risk of cardiovascular disease Children of hypertensives show higher reactivity

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Personality Type?

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Type D: Distressed Personality Type Highly anxious and shy person Measured using psychometric scales People with this personality who have suffered a coronary event, more likely to Have suffered another coronary event Increased disability as a result of the event Be dead 10 years later

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Method Participants 40 male, 36 female (mean age = 20.91, SD = 4.09) Materials Blood pressure monitor Psychometric scale to assess Type D Mental arithmetic task Procedure 20 minutes to acclimatize to laboratory 10-minute rest, 5-minute task

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Systolic Blood Pressure Exaggerated reactivity F(1,72) = 6.02, p =.017, partial 2 =.077

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Diastolic Blood Pressure F(2.09, 150.51) = 4.17, p =.016, partial 2 =.055 Exaggerated reactivity

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Conclusions Type D personality associated with increased blood pressure reactivity in men Different pattern evident in women Points towards potential mechanism through which Type D exerts its effects Different effects in men and women

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