title: Thinking about a close relationship differentially impacts cardiovascular stress responses among depressed and nondepressed women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Individuals with depression and low social support are at elevated risk for developing cardiovascular disease--presumptively through mechanisms involving dysregulated stress physiology. While depressed individuals often report diminished social support and elevated levels of social distress, few studies have examined how social factors impact stress-related cardiovascular activity in depressed samples. Accordingly, we evaluated the social modulation of stress-related cardiovascular activity in a sample of 38 medically healthy, unmedicated depressed and nondepressed individuals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cardiovascular and psychological measures were obtained before and after depressed and nondepressed women engaged in a speech stress task. To evaluate the impact of social factors on stress responses, half of the women completed the speech stress task first, while the other half completed the speech stress after engaging in a relationship-focused imagery task.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nondepressed women who first thought about a close relationship displayed global attenuations in blood pressure throughout the subsequent stress task, consistent with a stress-buffering effect of perceived social support. Conversely, depressed women who first thought about a close relationship displayed global elevations in blood pressure throughout the subsequent stress task, consistent with a stress-enhancing effect of perceived social distress in depressed women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Thinking about a close relationship differentially impacted subsequent cardiovascular activity during an evocative stressor in depressed and nondepressed women. Understanding the social context in which stress is experienced may aid in identifying, and ultimately attenuating, cardiovascular risks observed among patients with major depressive disorder.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatryand Psychology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. cyranowskijm@upmc.edu
authors.forename: Jill M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Cyranowski
authors.forename: Tara L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Hofkens
authors.forename: Holly A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Swartz
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Gianaros
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D002320:Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012944:Social Support; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult