Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

12-1992

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Psychology

Major Professor

Kathleen Lawler

Committee Members

John Lounsbury, Sandra Thomas, Robert Wahler

Abstract

This study examined the effects of gender and parental history (PH) of coronary heart disease (CHD) on behaviorally-induced cardiovascular reactivity as a function of anger expression style. Blood pressure responses and heart rate were recorded while 105 undergraduates participated in the Stroop-Color Word task and the Anger Recall Interview (ART). Results indicated that low expression of anger, in conjunction with high experience of anger, was related to increases in systolic blood pressure (SBP) responses to stressors for both females and males. However, females and males responded to different stressors. Males responded to the Stroop, whereas, females responded to the more interpersonal ARI. Analyses examining the relationship between positive PH (PH+) and DBP indicated a higher resting DBP for PH+ individuals. In addition, DBP taken during the Stroop was negatively correlated to experience of anger ratings, and DBP taken during the ARI was positively correlated with expression of anger. This suggested that the Stroop task was stressful for PH+ subjects who were rated as having low experience of anger, whereas, the ARI task was stressful for PH+ subjects who were rated as having high levels of expression of anger.

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