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Cardiovascular reactivity during stressful speaking tasks in Mexican–American women: effects of language use and interaction partner ethnicity

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Abstract

Acculturating to the United States confers risk for cardiovascular disease, possibly through cardiovascular reactivity when communicating in a non-native language and interacting with individuals from a different ethnic background. Sixty-four women who immigrated to the United States from Mexico participated in the study. Cardiovascular responses were examined while participants communicated in both English and Spanish with a Caucasian or Mexican–American interaction partner presented via video-recording. Task-related emotional responses and perceptions of the interaction partner were also assessed. Speaking in English evoked greater increases in blood pressure and heart rate than communicating in Spanish, and larger increases in negative affect. English–speaking interaction partners were also viewed as less friendly and more dominant. Interaction partner ethnicity had no effect on cardiovascular reactivity. These findings suggest that health effects of acculturation for Mexican–Americans may involve the cardiovascular stress responses associated with communicating in a non-native language.

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Notes

  1. Participants also completed measures of individual differences in acculturation (Cuéllar et al., 1995) and perceived lifetime racism and/or ethnic discrimination (Brondolo et al., 2008). There were no significant linear or curvilinear effects of discrimination or acculturation on: resting baseline levels of SBP, DBP, or HR; task changes in SBP, DBP, or HR (for overall reactivity scores, reactivity during Spanish or English tasks considered separately, or for interactions with Caucasian or Mexican–American targets considered separately). Further, there were no significant interactions of acculturation or discrimination with partner ethnicity on any of these outcomes. However, the participants reported a low mean level and limited range of acculturation, perhaps reducing the sensitivity of tests of effects for both acculturation and discrimination because more highly acculturated immigrants are more likely to experience discrimination than their less acculturated counterparts (Finch et al., 2000).

  2. We are grateful to an anonymous reviewer for this suggested interpretation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Utah, 380 South 1530 East (room 502), Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA

    Justin J. MacKenzie, Timothy W. Smith & Bert N. Uchino

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  1. Justin J. MacKenzie
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  2. Timothy W. Smith
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Correspondence to Timothy W. Smith.

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MacKenzie, J.J., Smith, T.W. & Uchino, B.N. Cardiovascular reactivity during stressful speaking tasks in Mexican–American women: effects of language use and interaction partner ethnicity. J Behav Med 36, 621–631 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-012-9456-7

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