Effect of static body and arm position on blood pressure in young healthy college students

This study was designed to determine if visualization of anger- and fear-provoking scenes produced differential physiological patterns similar to those produced by in vivo manipulations. Normotensive college students were selected on the basis of their responses to newly developed Anger and Fear/Anxiety questionnaires and for their ability to construct arousing scenes during a screening interview. In a 2 × 2 design (intensity × emotion), four scenes (high and low anger, high and low fear) were constructed individually for each of 16 subjects to imagine. Diastolic blood pressure, systolic blood pressure, and heart rate were monitored during visualization of each scene. Change in diastolic blood pressure was significantly greater for high anger than for high fear as predicted. Analysis of change in heart rate and systolic blood pressure showed significant effects for intensity only. These results provide further support for the concept of physiological differentiation in human emotion and suggest the utility of imagery for systematic study of human emotional responding.

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0407 Sleep, Stress, Cardiovascular, and Psychological Health in College Students

SLEEP ◽

10.1093/sleep/zsaa056.404 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 43 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. A156-A156

Author(s):

A M Reynolds ◽

K M Mullins

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Blood Pressure ◽

Heart Rate ◽

Psychological Health ◽

Psychological Factors ◽

Cardiovascular Health ◽

Sleep Efficiency ◽

Poor Sleep ◽

Sleep Habits ◽

Stress Symptoms

Abstract Introduction Epidemiological studies have long established that sleep factors, stress, and cardiovascular health are related. College students often struggle with the demands of college life, which leads to increased stress, symptoms of depression and anxiety, and poor sleep. The focus of the current study was to examine habitual sleep habits in college students, in association with psychological factors and physiological factors. Methods Participants included 51 undergraduate students (18 men, average age M=20.25 years, SD=1.78) who wore wrist actigraphs to measure their typical sleep habits. After one week, participants completed questionnaires about psychological symptoms (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress; Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, DASS-21) and subjective physiological symptoms (i.e., fatigue; Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue Scale, MAF). Blood pressure and heart rate were measured using a wrist cuff. Results Overall total sleep time was 6.59 hours and sleep efficiency was 82.55%. Pearson correlational analyses revealed a negative moderate association between sleep efficiency and diastolic blood pressure (r(49) = -.318, p = .024). Global PSQI scores were moderately associated with stress (r(49) = .419, p = .002). MAF Global Fatigue Index scores revealed positive associations with depression (r(49) = .344, p =.014), anxiety (r(49) = .474, p<.001), and stress (r(49) = .620 p<.001). Heart rate was positively associated with depressive symptoms r(49) = .296, p= .035), stress symptoms r(49) = .447, p= .001), and fatigue r(49) = .456, p= .001). Conclusion As expected, college students’ sleep was short in duration and poor in efficiency. Sleep factors, cardiovascular factors, psychological factors, and stress were all related, demonstrating the importance of sleep on physiological and psychological health. More research should be conducted to further examine the relationships and directionality between sleep, psychological factors, and stress as there may be underlying mechanisms important for cardiovascular health. Support None.

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