REACTIVITY RESEARCH ON SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC GROUPS - ITS VALUE TO PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY

Research on sociodemographic group differences in cardiovascular reactivity has provided support for the potential importance of reactivity as marker-mediator of susceptibility to cardiovascular disease and has facilitated our understanding of the nature of reactivity itself. The article by Treiber et al. in this issue of Health Psychology exemplifies this area of reactivity research. Yet sociodemographic group differences in reactivity and other physiological processes are now in themselves in need of explanation. Thus, the principal scientific challenge facing researchers is the development of testable theoretical models that will facilitate the search for, and ultimate understanding of, the basis for these group differences. This process will not only clarify the determinants of sociodemographic group differences in psychophysiological functioning, but may significantly advance the general understanding of biopsychosocial interactions.