Psychosocial factors in the development of hypertension.

The role of psychosocial factors in human hypertension is being investigated with three research strategies: epidemiological studies of blood pressure, psychological characteristics and life experience in population samples, naturalistic studies of the covariation between blood pressure, psychological state and everyday life events, and experimental studies of cardiovascular and neuroendocrine responses to behavioural stimuli. This article summarizes recent research on hypertension and psychological traits, job characteristics and social support, emphasizing the convergent knowledge deriving from complementary research strategies. The roles of stress-induced cardiovascular responses and prejudicial life styles in mediating influences on risk of hypertension are discussed.