Blunted cardiovascular reactions are a predictor of negative health outcomes: A prospective cohort study

The study examined whether cardiovascular responses to psychological stress tests predict future anxiety and depression scores 40-months later. Hemodynamic measures were obtained from 102 healthy adults before, during and after mental arithmetic, a speech task, and a cold pressor task. The 14-item Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was administered at initial testing and at 40-months follow-up. At initial testing analyses revealed that high anxiety symptoms were characterized by blunted cardiovascular reactions to acute mental stress, particularly mental arithmetic. Furthermore, after adjustment for baseline blood pressure (BP), baseline anxiety levels and traditional risk factors, attenuated systolic BP responses to mental arithmetic were associated with future anxiety levels (ΔR² = .055). These findings suggest that blunted cardiovascular reactions to stress may be an independent risk factor for future anxiety levels.