Behavioral indices of threat and challenge in Hispanic adolescents and hemodynamic responses to a speech stressor.

Behavioral ratings of performance and nervousness during a speech were used to divide participants (n=54) into threat and challenge groups. Comparisons on cardiac output, Heather index, heart rate, vascular resistance, and blood pressure reactivity indicated greater myocardial responses for the challenge group. This study extends the threat-challenge literature by employing behavioral definitions of constructs and examining a Hispanic adolescent sample.