Stability of cardiovascular reactivity to laboratory stressors: a 2 1/2 yr follow-up

The temporal stability of cardiovascular reactivity to laboratory stressors over a 2 1/2 yr period was studied. Subjects who had earlier received a cold pressor and a shock avoidance reaction time task were brought back for retesting using almost identical tasks. Cardiovascular variables that were common to both sessions included heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and pre-ejection period. Correlations were computed to examine the association of responses across both sessions for the four cardiovascular variables during rest and the two tasks. Correlations of both heart rate and systolic blood pressure were high for all tasks and rest, whereas inconsistent correlations were found for diastolic pressure and pre-ejection period. Inconsistencies in diastolic pressure are speculated to be due to individual differences in beta-adrenergic response, whereas lack of consistent pre-ejection period associations may be due to differences in methodology. The results generally support the assumption of stability of cardiovascular reactivity.