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.