Gratitude, social support and cardiovascular reactivity to acute psychological stress

Stephen Gallagher; Ann-Marie Creaven; Siobhán Howard; Annie T Ginty; Anna C Whittaker

doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108090

Gratitude, social support and cardiovascular reactivity to acute psychological stress

Biol Psychol. 2021 May:162:108090. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108090. Epub 2021 Apr 8.

Authors

Stephen Gallagher¹, Ann-Marie Creaven², Siobhán Howard², Annie T Ginty³, Anna C Whittaker⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, Centre for Social Issues Research, Study of Anxiety, Stress and Health Laboratory, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland; Health Research Institute, University of Limerick, Ireland. Electronic address: stephen.gallagher@ul.ie.
² Department of Psychology, Centre for Social Issues Research, Study of Anxiety, Stress and Health Laboratory, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland; Health Research Institute, University of Limerick, Ireland.
³ Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA.
⁴ Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland, UK.

PMID: 33839208
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108090

Abstract

The pathways linking gratitude to cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) to acute stress are not fully understood. We examine whether this association is mediated by social support. Healthy adults (N = 178) completed measures of trait gratitude and perceived social support and participated in a standardised mental arithmetic and speech stress testing protocol. Their CVR (i.e., systolic and diastolic blood pressure [SBP, DBP], heart rate [HR], cardiac output [CO] and total peripheral resistance [TPR]) were monitored throughout. Gratitude was positively associated with SBP, DBP and TPR reactivity, with those reporting higher gratitude showing higher CVR. Social support was positively associated with TPR to the maths task. The association between gratitude and TPR was mediated by social support but this was only evident in response to the maths task and not the speech task. These novel findings suggest that CVR may be a potential mechanism underlying the gratitude-physical health link.

Keywords: Blood pressure; Cardiovascular reactivity; Gratitude; Social support; Stress.

MeSH terms

Adult
Blood Pressure
Cardiac Output
Heart Rate
Humans
Social Support*
Stress, Psychological*