Exercise Dependence and Cardiovascular Reactivity to Acute Psychological Stress: An Extension and Replication Study

Low cardiovascular reactions to acute psychological stress have been shown among those with substance and non-substance dependencies like exercise dependence. However, associations between exercise dependence and low cardiovascular reactions to stress have been demonstrated between small sex-specific groups with extreme exercise dependence scores. The present study sought to replicate previous findings as well as examine whether exercise dependence across the range of scores was linearly related to reactivity magnitude in a more diverse sample. Participants (n = 161, 65% female) undertook laboratory stress testing. Cardiovascular activity was measured at rest and in response to a 10-min Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT). Exercise dependence was measured via three validated questionnaires. There were no significant linear associations between exercise dependence scores and blood pressure reactivity, with or without adjustment for covariates. In a subsample of females aged < 30 years, small negative associations emerged for blood pressure reactivity. Replication analyses of extreme groups created using the EABQ, as in prior work, showed no significant differences in reactivity, but there were some indications of low reactivity among individuals classified as exercise dependent on the EDQ. In conclusion, differences in stress reactivity may not be confined to extreme scoring groups and can also emerge as linear associations. However, the presence and form of these effects appear to be measure-, outcome- and sample-dependent.