Sex differences in social support, self-deception, hostility, and ambulatory cardiovascular activity

The quality of the social network, ambulatory cardiovascular indices, and other health risks were assessed in 129 students. Ss carried an ambulatory monitor for a working day and completed a social support scale, an index of daily stress, and measures of anger expression, hostility, depression, and self-deception. Alcohol intake and skinfold thickness were assessed. Results indicated that quality of social support was related in an inverse manner to ambulatory systolic pressure in women only. Stepwise multiple regression confirmed that social support was an independent predictor of daily systolic pressure for women and was not confounded with subjective stress. For men, tendencies to self-deception and high hostility were independently related to elevated blood pressure and heart rate.