Kathleen A. Lawler

A change of heart: cardiovascular correlates of forgiveness in response to interpersonal conflict.

This study sought to examine the psychophysiological correlates of forgiveness in response to interpersonal conflict. One hundred eight college students (44 males and 64 females) participated in two interviews about times of interpersonal betrayal, one about a parent and one about a friend/partner. Measures of forgiving personality and state forgiveness were collected, as well as stress, hostility, empathy, and self-reported illness symptoms. During baseline, interviews and recovery periods, repeated measures were taken of blood pressure, heart rate, frontalis EMG, and skin conductance. Trait forgiveness was associated with lower levels of blood pressure. State forgiveness was associated with lower blood pressure levels, heart rate, and rate pressure product. Acute, stress-induced reactivity was also linked to forgiveness: state forgiveness was associated with diastolic and mean arterial pressure and rate pressure product reactivity during the parent interview. Increased blood pressure recovery after stress was also linked to trait forgiveness. Forgiveness may produce beneficial effects directly by reducing allostatic load associated with betrayal and conflict, and indirectly through reductions in perceived stress.

Relationship of racial stressors to blood pressure responses and anger expression in black college students.

The physiological effects of racism, as a stressor, were examined as they related to blood pressure (BP) and anger experiences in Black college students. Current research has failed to consider the stressful effects of racism as a factor contributing to the higher incidence of essential hypertension among Blacks. Twenty-seven Black college students viewed three excerpts showing racist situations involving Blacks; anger-provoking, nonracist situations; and neutral situations. After each scene, BP was taken, and a mood checklist was administered. The Framingham Anger Scale and the Anger Expression Scale were administered. Analyses revealed that BP significantly increased during the presentation of racist stimuli but not of anger-provoking or neutral stimuli. Self-reports of state anger, as measured by the mood checklist, were significant for both the anger-provoking and racist stimuli. BP scores were significantly correlated to the two trait anger measures. Exposure to racist stimuli was associated with BP increases among Blacks. Such cumulative exposure to racism may have important implications for the etiology of essential hypertension.

The Unique Effects of Forgiveness on Health: An Exploration of Pathways

The relationship of forgiveness, both state and trait, to health was assessed. Eighty-one community adults completed a packet of questionnaires and participated in a laboratory interview about a time of hurt or betrayal. Heart rate and blood pressure were recorded during a 10 min baseline, the interview and during a recovery period; interviews were structured around a framework of questions and videotaped. Four measures of forgiveness were all statistically associated with five measures of health (physical symptoms, medications used, sleep quality, fatigue, and somatic complaints). Trait forgiveness was associated with decreased reactivity (rate-pressure product) to the interview, but sympathetic reactivity did not account for the trait forgiveness–health association. Four mechanisms or pathways by which forgiveness could lead to fewer physical symptoms were examined: spirituality, social skills, reduction in negative affect, and reduction in stress. All factors either partially or fully mediated the effect of forgiveness on health; however, the strongest mediator for both state and trait forgiveness was reduction in negative affect. For state forgiveness, the second strongest mediator was reduction in stress; for trait forgiveness, both conflict management and reduction in stress were strong contributors.

An alternative approach for achieving cardiovascular baseline : Viewing an aquatic video

Due to the importance of baseline and recovery levels in the computation of reactivity, two studies were conducted to determine an alternative method to traditional rest for achieving baseline and recovery levels of cardiovascular measurements. Watching a relaxing, aquatic video was compared with a traditional resting baseline to determine the better method for achieving low baseline levels. In addition, watching the video was compared with traditional rest during 5-min post-task recovery periods. Systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) decreased more during the baseline period when subjects viewed the video than when subjects rested quietly. Similarly, subjects displayed greater recovery following the mental tasks when they watched a video than when they merely sat quietly. It is recommended that researchers standardize baseline procedures by showing a relaxing video before administering tasks for the assessment of cardiovascular reactivity.

Dimensions of forgiveness: The views of laypersons

Many conceptualizations of forgiveness currently exist in the forgiveness literature. The present study adds another perspective to the forgiveness discussion by investigating lay definitions of forgiveness, as well as reasons for forgiveness and nonforgiveness. In Study 1, undergraduate students completed a questionnaire packet in which they provided three narratives of interpersonal offense: a time when they had been hurt and then forgave the offender, a time when they had been hurt and did not forgive, and a time when they had hurt someone else and were forgiven. Respondents were also asked questions about their conceptualization of forgiveness and the factors that influence their decisions to forgive or not forgive. In Study 2, community adults participated in interviews during which they described a time when they had been betrayed or hurt. Following their story, participants answered questions about their definitions of and motivations for forgiveness. A number of important themes in forgiveness definition and motivation are identified, and important similarities and differences between the under-graduate and community samples are discussed. In particular, it is noted that primary motivations for forgiveness appear to be largely self-focused, rather than altruistic.

Gender differences in patterns of dynamic cardiovascular regulation.

The purpose of this research was to examine the role of gender in hemodynamic response patterns to stress.Sixty-four male and 55 female young adults were administered a protocol of rest, mental arithmetic, video game, and anger recall interview while blood pressure, heart rate, and cardiac impedance measures were obtained. Men had higher levels of systolic blood pressure and cardiac output and greater reactivity to tasks, indexed by increases in cardiac output and diastolic blood pressure. Extreme groups of myocardial and vascular reactors were formed from cardiac output and total peripheral resistance change scores during mental arithmetic. The myocardial reactors exhibited greater sensitivity to task demands, whereas vascular reactors exhibited comparable total peripheral resistance increases to all tasks. Vascular reactors exhibited greater diastolic blood pressure reactivity than myocardial reactors. Future studies should address the predictive validity of these reactor patterns for the subsequent development of coronary heart disease.

Hardiness, Type A behavior, and the stress–illness relation in working women.

Hardiness has been proposed as a stress-resistance resource in maintaining health. This construct has been shown to act in conjunction with the Type A behavior pattern in affecting illness. In this study, we examined this relation in women (N = 82) with the use of the Structured Interview and the Jenkins Activity Survey to assess Type A behavior. As expected, there was a strong stress-illness association. However, there were no hardiness main effects nor interactions between stress, Type A behavior, and hardiness. Hardiness was significantly associated with age, education level, and marital status. No differences in hardiness composition were found between high stress/high illness and high stress/low illness groups. Only the Powerlessness scale of hardiness was related to illness. These results are discussed in comparison with other hardiness studies. Particular attention is focused on possible sex differences, and implications for future research are suggested.

The relationship of physiological responses to the coronary-prone behavior pattern in children

Forty-one male and female children were tested for Type A (coronary-prone) behavior using the Bortner test and the MYTH questionnaire. Based on their classification as A or B, three physiological variables were compared: systolic blood pressure (SBP), heart rate (HR) (phasic, tonic, and variability), and skin conductance (SC) (magnitude and latency of responses, number of spontaneous responses) during a 3-min rest period, a 10-min unsignaled reaction time (RT), and a 10-min word task. When using the Bortner to classify groups, Type As showed a tendency toward higher SBP levels and greater SBP reactivity to tasks, and significantly greater HR levels, HR reactivity to tasks, HR variability during rest, and SCR magnitude to RT signals. When using the MYTH, Type A females showed larger increases in SBP and HR to tasks, a lower mean HR, and a faster RT. Type A males showed a higher mean HR. Thus, children classified as Type A resemble Type A adults when compared on physiological responses to stress; however, the results depend on the method used to determine Type A behavior.

Theobiology: An Analysis of Spirituality, Cardiovascular Responses, Stress, Mood, and Physical Health

The relationships of spirituality and religion to acute cardiovascular responses, physical symptoms of illness, stress and psychological mood were assessed in a community sample of adults. Nineteen men and 61 women participated in a betrayal interview, while their blood pressure and heart rate were monitored. Religious affiliation, frequency of attendance at worship and religiousness were associated with resting diastolic and mean arterial pressure. Spirituality, especially as assessed by the existential scale of the Spiritual Well-being Scale, was related to symptoms of illness, medication use, stress and negative mood states. Spirituality and involvement in organized religion may represent a means to increase the sense of purpose and meaning in life, which is related to greater resiliency and resistance to stress-related illness.

Stress and Illness in Low-Income Women: The Roles of Hardiness, John Henryism, and Race

ABSTRACT This study examines the stress-illness relationship in a bi-racial group (African-American and Caucasian-American) of low-income women. Two personality constructs, hardiness and John Henryism, were studied for their possible moderating influences on the stress-illness relationship. One hundred women, with family incomes below the poverty line, completed questionnaires of stress, illness, hardiness, and John Henryism. Hierarchical regression models indicated that hardiness moderated the stress-illness relationship, with high stress, low hardy women having higher levels of illness. In addition, race also moderated the effect of stress, with high stress, Caucasian women having higher levels of illness. However, John Henryism had no effect on stress-related illness in these low-income women. Analyses of additional stress measures indicated that hardy women perceive their external environments as less stressful, although high and low hardy women have similar levels of network stress. Correlational analyses indicated that life-event stress, network stress and low-income concerns were all associated with illness scores. Thus, a range of stress measures are linked to physical illness in low-income women; furthermore, hardiness and being African-American both buffered the effects of stress on illness.