Hostility, social support, and adrenergic receptor responsiveness among African-American and white men and women.

OBJECTIVE: We examined the relationship between beta-adrenergic receptor responsiveness and hostility and social support in African American and white men and women.

METHODS: The participants were 149 men and women, aged 25 to 45 years with SBP < 160 and DBP < 105. Hostility and social support were assessed with standardized self-report measures. An isoproterenol challenge was used to evaluate beta-adrenergic receptor responsiveness, and a phenylephrine challenge was used to evaluate alpha-adrenergic receptor responsiveness.

RESULTS: Hostility and social support were unrelated to alpha-adrenergic receptor responsiveness. Hostility and satisfaction with perceived social support predicted beta-adrenergic receptor responsiveness in multiple linear regression analyses controlling for race, gender, age, SBP, and resting heart rate. High hostility was associated with reduced cardiac beta-adrenergic receptor function among both white and African American men. Low levels of satisfaction with social support were associated with reduced cardiac beta-adrenergic receptor responsiveness among men and women. Hostility and satisfaction with social support shared some variance in models predicting beta-adrenergic receptor responsiveness.

CONCLUSIONS: Reduced beta-adrenergic receptor responsiveness is associated with higher levels of hostility among men, and is associated with lower levels of satisfaction with social support among men and women. Impaired beta-adrenergic receptor function, which is a common characteristic of cardiovascular disease, may be a marker of increased cardiovascular disease risk among individuals high in hostility and low in social support.