Does Compassion Predict Blood Pressure and Hypertension? The Modifying Role of Familial Risk for Hypertension
- PDF / 428,081 Bytes
- 12 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 72 Downloads / 256 Views
FULL LENGTH MANUSCRIPT
Does Compassion Predict Blood Pressure and Hypertension? The Modifying Role of Familial Risk for Hypertension Aino I. L. Saarinen 1,2 & Liisa Keltikangas-Järvinen 2 & Taina Hintsa 3 Terho Lehtimäki 4 & Olli Raitakari 5,6,7 & Mirka Hintsanen 1
&
Laura Pulkki-Råback 2
&
Niklas Ravaja 2
&
# The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Background This study investigated (i) whether compassion is associated with blood pressure or hypertension in adulthood and (ii) whether familial risk for hypertension modifies these associations. Method The participants (N = 1112–1293) came from the prospective Young Finns Study. Parental hypertension was assessed in 1983–2007; participants’ blood pressure in 2001, 2007, and 2011; hypertension in 2007 and 2011 (participants were aged 30– 49 years in 2007–2011); and compassion in 2001. Results High compassion predicted lower levels of diastolic and systolic blood pressure in adulthood. Additionally, high compassion was related to lower risk for hypertension in adulthood among individuals with no familial risk for hypertension (independently of age, sex, participants’ and their parents’ socioeconomic factors, and participants’ health behaviors). Compassion was not related to hypertension in adulthood among individuals with familial risk for hypertension. Conclusion High compassion predicts lower diastolic and systolic blood pressure in adulthood. Moreover, high compassion may protect against hypertension among individuals without familial risk for hypertension. As our sample consisted of comparatively young participants, our findings provide novel implications for especially early-onset hypertension. Keywords Blood pressure . Compassion . Personality . Familial risk . Health behavior . Hypertension
Introduction Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-020-09886-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Mirka Hintsanen [email protected] 1
Research Unit of Psychology, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 2000 (Erkki Koiso-Kanttilan katu 1), 90014 Oulu, Finland
2
Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
3
Department of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland
4
Department of Clinical Chemistry, Fimlab Laboratories and Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center-Tampere, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
5
Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
6
Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
7
Centre for Population Health Research, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that raised blood pressure causes even 12.8% of all deaths [1]. There is a great amount of evidence that even modest decreases in systolic blood pressure predict a subst
Data Loading...
