Both High and Low Levels of Negative Emotions Are Associated with Higher Blood Pressure: Evidence from Whitehall II Coho
- PDF / 468,642 Bytes
- 9 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 101 Downloads / 156 Views
FULL LENGTH MANUSCRIPT
Both High and Low Levels of Negative Emotions Are Associated with Higher Blood Pressure: Evidence from Whitehall II Cohort Study Nadya Dich 1
&
Naja Hulvej Rod 1 & Stacey N. Doan 2
# International Society of Behavioral Medicine 2020
Abstract Background Previous studies of negative emotions and blood pressure (BP) produced mixed findings. Based on the functionalist and evolutionary perspective on emotions, we hypothesized that the association between negative emotions and BP is U-shaped, i.e., that both very high levels of negative emotions and the absence thereof are related to high BP. Methods Data from 7479 British civil servants who participated in Phases 1–11 (years 1985–2013) of the Whitehall II cohort study was used. Negative emotions were operationalized as negative affect and depressive and anxiety symptoms. Negative affect was measured at Phases 1 and 2. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were assessed at each phase. BP was measured at every other phase. For each negative emotion measure, an average across all phases was computed and used as a predictor of PB levels throughout the follow-up period using growth curve models. Results Very high values of anxiety and depressive symptoms, but not negative affect, were associated with higher levels of systolic BP. However, low to moderate levels of all negative emotions were associated with lower blood pressure than the absence of negative emotions. Conclusions The article offers a theoretical explanation for a previously observed inverse association between negative emotions and blood pressure and underscores that moderate levels of negative emotions that naturally occur in everyday life are not associated with risks of heightened blood pressure. Keywords Negative emotions . Anxiety . Depression . Blood pressure
Introduction Emotions play an important role in both the etiology of diseases and in the recovery process. This mind-body connection has been extensively studied with respect to cardiovascular health. Several empirical studies have found a link between negative emotional states, such as depression, anxiety and anger, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) [1–3]. These findings are so entrenched that negative emotions are listed as risk Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-019-09844-w) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Nadya Dich [email protected] 1
Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5, Postboks 2099, 1014 Copenhagen, Denmark
2
Department of Psychology, Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, CA, USA
factors for CVD on popular science health and psychology websites, such as Psychology Today [4] or WebMD [5]. Studies investigating the link between negative emotions and cardiovascular health have focused on both transient, momentary emotional states, and – to a much larger degree – longterm psychological dysregulation including depression and anxiety. The most consistent findings in this literat
Data Loading...
