Hostility and the cardiovascular reactivity of women during interpersonal confrontation

In order to explore the association between hostility and women's health, t his study examined the relationship of hostility to cardiovascular reactivi ty during stressful, interpersonal confrontations. Prior to the task, each participant's level of hostility, methods of coping with stress, and percei ved social support were evaluated. Blood pressure and heart rate were monit ored in ninety females during two discussions with a disagreeing confederat e. In one discussion, participants were given positive feedback concerning their performance, while in a second discussion, participants were given no n-positive feedback concerning their effectiveness in expressing their view point. The results indicate that low hostile women displayed greater systol ic blood pressure and heart rate increases than high hostile women during t he discussions. In addition, participants exhibited greater systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure reactivity during the positive feedba ck condition than during the non-positive feedback condition. However, for diastolic blood pressure, these results were qualified by an interaction, s uch that low hostile women displayed greater reactivity during the positive feedback condition than during the non-positive feedback condition, while high hostile women were equally reactive in both feedback conditions. State assessment of coping styles indicated that high hostile women may be less reactive due to withdrawal and lack of engagement during the task, while lo w hostile women may show greater engagement, especially when encouraged by positive feedback.