Abstract
The recovery phase of the stress response is an individual difference characteristic that may predict cardiovascular risk. The purpose of this study was to examine whether laboratory-based blood pressure (BP) recovery predicts ambulatory BP (ABP). One hundred and eighty-two participants underwent a standard laboratory stress protocol, involving a 20-min baseline rest period, and four stressors presented in a counterbalanced order, each followed by a 10-min recovery period. Participants also wore an ABP monitor for 24h during a typical workday. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that BP recovery accounted for significant additional variance for daytime SBP (p<0.001), nighttime SBP (p<0.001), daytime DBP (p<0.001), and nighttime DBP (p<0.001), after controlling for baseline and reactivity BP. Results suggest that persistence of the BP response following stress may be a more salient characteristic of the stress response in understanding its potential impact on longer term cardiovascular regulation.