RELIABLE RESPONSES TO A CARDIOVASCULAR REACTIVITY PROTOCOL - A REPLICATION STUDY IN A BIRACIAL FEMALE SAMPLE

This replication study was designed to examine the reliability of indi vidual differences in cardiovascular responsivity to a standardized PC -based cognitive task protocol (Kamarck et al., 1992) in a female comm unity sample. Thirty women, both black and white (ages 25-44 years), w ere administered the protocol twice with a 1-month retest interval usi ng a mobile laboratory at a community-based testing site. Measures of heart rate and blood pressure reactivity were obtained comparing asses sments taken at rest and during three protocol tasks. Preejection peri od, stroke volume, and total peripheral resistance changes were estima ted using impedance cardiography assessments. As in previous studies w ith males, individual differences in heart rate and systolic and diast olic blood pressure responses to the protocol were highly reliable (.8 0 or greater) when data were aggregated across three tasks and two tes ting sessions. Reliability of cardiac contractility (preejection perio d) and stroke volume changes to these tasks exceeded .70. This reactiv ity assessment procedure has now produced reliable results in three st udies and appears to be exportable across diverse samples and settings .