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Dysregulated Blood Pressure: Can Regulating Emotions Help?

  • Pathogenesis of Hypertension (W Elliott, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Despite having identified key physiological and behavioral risk factors, the prevalence of hypertension continues to rise, affecting two thirds of American adults 60 years or older. An important condition in its own right, hypertension is also a leading risk factor for cardiovascular diseases; thus, identifying additional modifiable determinants remains a public health priority. Psychological states and negative emotions more specifically have been proposed as risk factors, but the research findings are inconsistent. Additional prospective studies have recently been published increasing the availability of longitudinal data. The aim of this literature review is to evaluate these findings focusing on those from the last 3 years. We synthesize current research on whether negative (e.g., depression, anxiety) or positive (e.g., optimism) emotion-related factors are associated with high blood pressure onset. We discuss discrepant findings and propose considering emotion regulation as a novel approach to explain inconsistencies. Finally, we provide thoughts on future research directions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Kresge Building, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Claudia Trudel-Fitzgerald, Paola Gilsanz & Laura D. Kubzansky

  2. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Murray A. Mittleman

  3. Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Murray A. Mittleman

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  1. Claudia Trudel-Fitzgerald
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  2. Paola Gilsanz
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  3. Murray A. Mittleman
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  4. Laura D. Kubzansky
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Correspondence to Claudia Trudel-Fitzgerald.

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Conflict of Interest

Dr. Trudel-Fitzgerald reports a postdoctoral fellowship from Canadian Institute of Health Research. Dr. Gilsanz reports funding from National Institute of Mental Health (T32MH017119) and a Yerby Postdoctoral Fellowship from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Drs. Mittleman and Kubzansky declare no conflicts of interest.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Pathogenesis of Hypertension

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Trudel-Fitzgerald, C., Gilsanz, P., Mittleman, M.A. et al. Dysregulated Blood Pressure: Can Regulating Emotions Help?. Curr Hypertens Rep 17, 92 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11906-015-0605-6

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