PRESSER REACTIVITY, ETHNICITY, AND 24-HOUR AMBULATORY MONITORING IN CHILDREN FROM HYPERTENSIVE FAMILIES

We assessed blood pressure responses of a multiethnic (Black and White ) sample of 120 children of hypertensive families to orthostasis, vide o game, forehead cold, and dynamic exercise, and monitored the childre n's ambulatory pressure 24 hours later Thirteen children were studied twice (I-year stability). The Black children exhibited higher 24-hour ambulatory systolic and diastolic pressures than the White children. R egardless of ethnicity, peak and mean systolic pressures during each t ask were generally positively correlated with mean systolic pressure w hile the children were awake and asleep. Associations between diastoli c presser responses and ambulatory measurements were somewhat dependen t upon ethnicity and task. Relatively few reactivity-ambulatory correl ations were significant, using presser reactivity change scores. The c hildren who participated twice exhibited significant I-year stability for most ambulatory and pressor measurements. Children's presser respo nses to laboratory tasks may, generalize to the natural environment.