Psychophysical stress reactions during a psychoanalytic interview
Kollenbaum, V.E.; Meyer, W.; Meyer, G.J.; Veddern, G.; Schnoor, P.W.; Will, D.; Seidenstücker, K.H.; Speidel, H.; Niedermayer, W.
Psychotherapie Psychosomatik Medizinische Psychologie 45(6): 202-207
1995
ISSN/ISBN: 0937-2032 PMID: 7624471 Document Number: 450055
In 37 young volunteers analytically oriented interviews were taken and their effects being compared to those of conventional stressors using mental arithmetic. Because of their similarity to day-to-day stressors we expected higher cardiovascular reactions (blood pressure, heart rate and catecholamines) under interview situations than in mental arithmetic. Conforming this hypothesis, we found higher reactions in blood pressure regulation, while heart rates were not higher under interview situations compared to laboratory stressors. Epinephrine showed a qualitative difference: Only in interview situations we found a significant rise of 27%. Plasma cortisol also showed a rise in interview situations, however, smaller. We therefore suggest, that analytically oriented interviews are an adequate method to investigate cardiovascular reagibility in young hypertensive-prone persons.