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Violence Exposure and Optimism Predict Task-Induced Changes in Blood Pressure and Pulse Rate in a Normotensive Sample of Inner-City Black Youth

From the Department of Psychology (R.C.), College of Nursing (R.A.B.), and the Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine (J.M.F.), Wayne State University, Detroit, MI.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Rodney Clark, PhD, Wayne State University, Biobehavioral Research Laboratory, Program for the Advancement of Youth and Urban Health, 5057 Woodward Ave., Suite 7204, Detroit, MI 48202. E-mail: rclark{at}sun.science.wayne.edu

Objective: This investigation examined the association of violence exposure (home and neighborhood) and optimism to task-induced changes in systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and pulse rate (PR).

Methods: Drawn from a larger investigation, the convenience sample for this study consisted of 172 normotensive black youth (mean age = 11.5 years, standard deviation = 1.3). Violence exposure and optimism were self-reported by participants, and task-induced changes in SBP, DBP, and PR were measured with an automated monitor during two sequentially administered digit-forward and digit-backward tasks.

Results: Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that violence exposure was inversely related to task-induced changes in SBP (p = .010) and DBP (p = .005). Optimism was not an independent predictor of blood pressure or PR changes (p-s > .32). The final step of these hierarchical analyses indicated that the effects of violence exposure and optimism interacted to predict task-induced changes in SBP (p = .013) and PR (p = .003). Follow-up regression analyses indicated that violence exposure was inversely related to task-induced changes in SBP among participants high in optimism and was positively associated with PR reactivity in participants low in optimism.

Conclusions: The youth in this study have intact mechanisms for buffering blood pressure responses to violence exposure, especially those who are more optimistic about their future—a person factor whose moderating effects might wane with advancing age.

Key Words: violence • optimism • blood pressure • pulse rate • black youth

Abbreviations: HTN = primary hypertension; SBP = systolic blood pressure; DBP = diastolic blood pressure; PR = pulse rate; M = mean; SD = standard deviation; SE = standard error; mm Hg = millimeters of mercury; kg/m = kilograms/meter.