Social Dominance, Gender, and Cardiovascular Reactivity

Cardiovascular Diseases Clinical Trial

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT00005522
• Other study ID #: 5049
• Secondary ID: R29HL058528
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: May 25, 2000
• Last updated: May 12, 2016
• Start date: May 1998
• Est. completion date: April 2004

Study information

• Verified date: October 2005
• Source: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: United States: Federal Government
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

To examine biopsychosocial processes that might contribute to the associations among social dominance, gender, and cardiovascular reactivity,.

Description:

BACKGROUND:

Social dominance, the tendency to exercise social influence and control, has been positively associated with coronary heart disease (CHD) risk among males, independent of biomedical risk factors and hostility. Exposure to dominant others behaviors also has been associated with elevated CHD risk. For females, submissiveness and a constellation of psychosocial behaviors opposite to urgency and competitiveness have been associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The studies extend a growing literature concerning the central role of social relationships in health and illness and they test a theoretical model that addresses why social relationships and interpersonally-oriented person variables such as dominance may have differing consequences for the physical well-being of men and women.

DESIGN NARRATIVE:

The three studies were designed to test a social-contextual model of dominance and cardiovascular stress reactivity (CVR) that synthesized and elaborated earlier models in order to account for (1) cardiovascular consequences of exposure to dominant others and (2) differences in dominant men's and women's cardiovascular responses to social interactions. Because of the disproportionately high rates of CVD among Black Americans, both Black and white men and women were included in the studies.

Using a laboratory social interaction paradigm, study 1 refined and validated a coding system designed to assess dominant and hostile behaviors during dyadic social interaction. Study 2 examined two factors proposed to account for differences in dominant men's and women's cardiovascular responses to social interaction: (1) explicit role demands regarding dominance expression (i.e., the degree to which situations provided clear and salient cues regarding expected and acceptable behavior) and (2) gender composition of the dyad (i.e., same sex versus opposite sex). These two factors were manipulated independently while unacquainted, healthy young adult men and women participated in task-oriented dyadic discussions designed to activate motives to influence; cardiovascular responses were measured during the discussions and preceding rests. Study 3, a secondary analysis of data collected in study 2, examined associations between CVR and exposure to others' dominance. The aforementioned behavioral coding system was used to assess behavioral dominance observed in study 2 and path analytic techniques were used to model associations among CVR, one's own and one's partner's trait and behavioral dominance, gender, and situational factors.

The study completion date listed in this record was obtained from the "End Date" entered in the Protocol Registration and Results System (PRS) record.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 0
• Est. completion date: April 2004
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: Both
• Age group: N/A to 100 Years
• Eligibility: No eligibility criteria

Study Design

N/A

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Cardiovascular Diseases
• Coronary Artery Disease
• Coronary Disease
• Heart Diseases

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
n/a

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

References & Publications (3)

Kiecolt-Glaser JK, Newton TL. Marriage and health: his and hers. Psychol Bull. 2001 Jul;127(4):472-503. Review. — View Citation

Newton TL, Philhower CL. Socioemotional correlates of self-reported menstrual cycle irregularity in premenopausal women. Psychosom Med. 2003 Nov-Dec;65(6):1065-9. — View Citation

Newton TL, Watters CA, Philhower CL, Weigel RA. Cardiovascular reactivity during dyadic social interaction: the roles of gender and dominance. Int J Psychophysiol. 2005 Sep;57(3):219-28. — View Citation