Blunted cardiovascular and catecholamine stress reactivity in women with bulimia nervosa

Cardiovascular and catecholamine responses to mental stressors were investigated in women with bulimia nervosa (BN) and in healthy control subjects. Fifteen women with BN and 15 control subjects completed psychosocial questionnaires before laboratory testing, where they were exposed to an interpersonally based speech stressor and a serial math task. Blood pressure, heart rate, epinephrine, norepinephrine and, via impedance cardiography, systolic time intervals, cardiac output and total peripheral resistance were measured at rest and during stress. Results indicated that BN was associated with blunted sympathetic activation in response to mental stress, indicated by increased pre-ejection period responses and blunted systolic blood pressure, heart rate and epinephrine responses. In contrast, women with BN had elevated cortisol levels when compared with control women. In addition, despite equivalent performance between groups, bulimic women reported feeling significantly more confused, frustrated, inadequate and dissatisfied with their performance during tasks. Psychosocial questionnaires also indicated that women with BN perceived more stress, had worse coping skills, lower self-esteem and sense of mastery, reported less social support, had worse mood, had greater anxiety and were more depressed when compared with control women. These results are interpreted as reflecting physiological and psychological profiles indicative of distress vs. active effort coping in BN.