Cardiovascular correlates of behavioral dominance and hostility during dyadic interaction.

The present study examined cardiovascular correlates of expression of, and exposure to, naturally occurring behavioral dominance and hostility during dyadic social interaction. Unacquainted men and women undergraduates participated in three mixed-gender interactions with the same partner while their blood pressure and heart rate were assessed. Videotaped records of the interactions were coded for behavioral dominance and hostility. Exposure effects were apparent for women's systolic blood pressure and men's heart rate, with significantly greater reactivity shown by participants whose partners exhibited more dominance or hostility, respectively. Also, women's expression of dominance was positively and significantly associated with their heart rate reactivity. In addition to providing further evidence that emotion-related features of the social environment contribute to cardiovascular reactivity, these results illustrate that dominance merits attention as a correlate of cardiac stress reactivity, independent of hostility.

Dominance, gender, and cardiovascular reactivity during social interaction.

Associations between trait dominance and cardiovascular reactivity were examined in previously unacquainted healthy men and women. Subjects participated in three mixed-gender dyadic interactions with the same partner while their cardiovascular responses were assessed. Among men, but not women, trait dominance was positively and significantly associated with systolic blood pressure reactivity. For men and women, diastolic blood pressure reactivity was positively and significantly associated with trait dominance while participants prepared to interact and with partner's trait dominance while they interacted. All effects held after controlling for trait hostility. Dominance merits attention as a correlate of cardiovascular reactivity, a finding that parallels emerging patterns in the cardiovascular disease literature. Gender and gender-related social factors as potential moderators of this relationship are discussed.

Development of a pregnancy-tailored decisional balance measure for smoking cessation.

The Transtheoretical Model suggests that perception of pros and cons of smoking (decisional balance) is related to quitting. This study examined the underlying structure of decisional balance items to aid in development of a pregnancy-tailored measure. A sample of 281 low-income, pregnant women attending public maternity clinics who smoked or had recently quit smoking completed a decisional balance measure. The measure included items from the general decisional balance scale plus pregnancy-related decisional balance items. Confirmatory factor analysis examining the general-plus-pregnancy-related items suggested a four-factor solution, with factors representing general pros, pregnancy-related pros, cons related to disapproval from others, and health-related cons. Perceptions of pregnancy-related pros and disapproval-related cons differed significantly across stages of change. Findings suggest that inclusion of pregnancy-related items could provide additional information about concerns that are salient during pregnancy.