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Cardiovascular reactivity and adaptation to recurrent psychological stress: The moderating effects of evaluative observation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2000

ROBERT M. KELSEY ,
JIM BLASCOVICH ,
CHRISTOPHER L. LEITTEN ,
TAMERA R. SCHNEIDER ,
JOE TOMAKA  and
STEFAN WIENS
ROBERT M. KELSEY
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Stony Brook, USA
JIM BLASCOVICH
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of California at Santa Barbara, USA
CHRISTOPHER L. LEITTEN
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Florida, USA
TAMERA R. SCHNEIDER
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
JOE TOMAKA
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at El Paso, USA
STEFAN WIENS
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Stony Brook, USA
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Abstract

The impact of evaluative observation on cardiovascular reactivity and adaptation to recurrent psychological stress was evaluated in 162 undergraduate men and women. All participants performed three mental arithmetic tasks with or without evaluative observation. Impedance cardiographic, blood pressure, task performance, and stress appraisal measures were recorded for each task. Evaluative observation moderated the effects of task repetition on cardiac reactivity but not vascular reactivity. The introduction of evaluative observation disrupted cardiac adaptation, resulting in a resurgence of β-adrenergic cardiac reactivity (p < .005), whereas the removal of evaluative observation promoted cardiac adaptation. Evaluative observation also increased stress appraisals and slowed task performance. The results support the dual process theory of habituation, rather than stimulus comparator theory, but only partially support cognitive appraisal theory.

Keywords

Cardiovascular reactivityStressAdaptationHabituationEvaluative observationImpedance cardiography
Type
Research Article
Information
Psychophysiology , Volume 37 , Issue 6 , November 2000 , pp. 748 - 756
Copyright
2000 Society for Psychophysiological Research

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