Excess heart rate and systolic blood pressure during psychological stress in relation to metabolic demand in adolescents

Cardiovascular responses during exercise are matched to the increased metabolic demand, but this may not be the case during psychological stress. No studies to date have tested this hypothesis in youth. Fifty-four youth, ages 13-16 years completed two visits. Heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and oxygen (O₂) consumption were measured during a graded exercise test on one day and during psychological stress reactivity (star tracing, speech) on another day. Predicted HR and SBP values during psychological stress were calculated based on HR-O₂ and SBP-O₂ relationships calculated during graded exercise. At a given O₂ consumption, actual HR was greater (p<0.02) than predicted for all stress tasks. Actual SBP was greater (p<0.001) than predicted for all stress tasks. This was the first study to demonstrate that cardiovascular responses were in excess of what would be expected based on metabolic demand in youth.