Social Support: The Effect on Nocturnal Blood Pressure Dipping

Wendy C. Birmingham (), Anna Jorgensen, Sinclaire Hancock, Lori L. Wadsworth and Man Hung
Additional contact information
Wendy C. Birmingham: Psychology Department, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Anna Jorgensen: Psychology Department, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Sinclaire Hancock: Psychology Department, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Lori L. Wadsworth: Romney Institute of Public Management, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Man Hung: Department of Orthopedic Surgery Operations, University of Utah, 590 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84108, USA

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 5, 1-13

Abstract: Social support has long been associated with cardiovascular disease risk assessed with blood pressure (BP). BP exhibits a circadian rhythm in which BP should dip between 10 and 15% overnight. Blunted nocturnal dipping (non-dipping) is a predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality independent of clinical BP and is a better predictor of cardiovascular disease risk than either daytime or nighttime BP. However, it is often examined in hypertensive individuals and less often in normotensive individuals. Those under age 50 are at increased risk for having lower social support. This study examined social support and nocturnal dipping in normotensive individuals under age 50 using ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABP). ABP was collected in 179 participants throughout a 24-h period. Participants completed the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List, which assesses perceived levels of social support in one’s network. Participants with low levels of social support demonstrated blunted dipping. This effect was moderated by sex, with women showing greater benefit from their social support. These findings demonstrate the impact social support can have on cardiovascular health, exhibited through blunted dipping, and are particularly important as the study was conducted in normotensive individuals who are less likely to have high levels of social support.

Keywords: blood pressure; nocturnal dipping; social support (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/4579/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/4579/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:5:p:4579-:d:1087824

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().