View article

This study evaluates the reproducibility of individual differences in behaviorally evoked cardiovascular reactivity among 39 young adult males. Presented also are initial data describing idiosyncratic patterns of hemodynamic adjustment that may underlie pressor responses to laboratory stressors. Subjects were administered three experimental stressors (mental arithmetic, mirror tracing, and bicycle exercise) on two occasions, four weeks apart. Heart rate, blood pressure, and impedance‐derived measurements of cardiac pre‐ejection period, stroke index, cardiac index, and total peripheral resistance were obtained during baseline and task periods at each session. To index task‐induced “reactivity,” residualized (baseline‐adjusted) change scores were calculated for all variables; percentage change from baseline was also calculated for impedance‐derived hemodynamic measurements. Test‐retest (inter‐session …