Parental history of hypertension and coping responses predict blood pressure changes in black college volunteers undergoing a speaking task about perceptions of racism

Objective: This investigation explored the relationship of coping responses and parental history of hypertension to task-induced blood pressure changes. Materials and Methods: The sample consisted of 215 black college student volunteers (median age = 25.95 y). During the speaking task, participants responded to standardized questions about perceptions of intra-ethnic and inter-ethnic group racism. Systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure were measured via an automated blood pressure monitor. Usual ways of coping with intra-ethnic group racism were assessed with the COPE Scale, and parental history of hypertension (PHH) was self-reported by participants. Results: Findings from the final step of hierarchical general linear models indicated that the main effect of emotion-focused coping was negatively associated with diastolic blood pressure (P = 0.02) and systolic blood pressure (p = 0.002) changes. Further, these analyses revealed that PHH interacted: (1) with the coping responses of planning (p = 0.007) and denial (p = 0.002) to predict changes in systolic blood pressure and (2) with the planning coping response to predict diastolic blood pressure changes (p = 0.02). The direction of these effects indicated that among participants who were high in these coping responses, participants who also had a positive PHH had larger blood pressure changes. Regression analyses also revealed that PHH interacted with the cognitive coping response (p = 0.01) to predict changes in systolic blood pressure. The direction of this effect indicated that among participants who were low in this coping response, participants who also had a positive PHH had larger systolic blood pressure changes. Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of examining the joint contribution of biological and psychosocial parameters to blood pressure reactivity in blacks.