SOCIAL RELATIONS, AGING, AND CARDIOVASCULAR CHANGES

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THIS IS A SHANNON AWARD PROVIDING PARTIAL SUPPORT FOR THE RESEARCH PROJECTS THAT FALL SHORT OF THE ASSIGNED INSTITUTE'S FUNDING RANGE BUT ARE IN THE MARGIN OF EXCELLENCE. THE SHANNON AWARD IS INTENDED TO PROVIDE SUPPORT TO TEST THE FEASIBILITY OF THE APPROACH; DEVELOP FURTHER TESTS AND REFINE RESEARCH TECHNIQUES; PERFORM SECONDARY ANALYSIS OR AVAILABLE DATA SETS; OR CONDUCT DISCRETE PROJECTS THAT CAN DEMONSTRATE THE PI'S RESEARCH CAPABILITIES OR LEND ADDITIONAL WEIGHT TO AN ALREADY MERITORIOUS APPLICATION. THE ABSTRACT BELOW IS TAKEN FROM THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT SUBMITTED BY THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR. DESCRIPTION: Aging is typically associated with significant changes in cardiovascular function (e.g., increased blood pressure) that confer increased vulnerability to physical health problems. Research on chronological age and physiological function, however, suggests that physiological and chronological age are not isomorphic, and that social factors may play a role in the aging process. This application proposes to study the cardiovascular responses to laboratory stressors longitudinally for 144 men and women between the ages of 30 to 70. One aim of the proposal is to examine the influence of age on detailed invasive measures of resting cardiovascular function including systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, systolic time intervals, cardiac output, and total peripheral resistance. Although age-related differences in standard resting measures of cardiovascular function (e.g., heart rate, blood pressure) are well-documented, much less is known about the influence of age on cardiovascular responses to psychological stressors. Therefore, a second aim of this research is to examine age-related differences and changes in cardiovascular reactivity during acute psychological stress. A third, and major aim of this research, is to examine a general conceptual model of the influence of positive and negative aspects of social relationships (e.g., social support, social conflict, social ambivalence) on such age-related differences and changes in resting cardiovascular activity and cardiovascular reactivity during acute psychological stress. Based on the proposed conceptual model, these investigators will also examine more specific psychological and behavioral factors that may be mediating these relationships.