Parity and perceived job stress elevate blood pressure in young normotensive working women.

This study examined the effect of physiological, behavioral, and psychosocial stressors on blood pressure measured in the work environment, home environment, and during sleep in a sample of 50 normotensive working women (average age = 30.2 +/- 7.4 years; average education = 4.3 years college). The results of separate stepwise regression analyses performed on the pressures measured in each environment showed that perceived job stress (P less than .05) and body fat or mass (P less than .05) significantly elevated systolic pressure in all situations, whereas home stress (P less than .05) and number of children (P less than .05) had the most marked effect on diastolic pressure variation over the day. These results suggest that the daily variation of systolic pressure in working women is related to stress on the job, and that diastolic pressure variation is associated with home stress, which may include stress arising from child care.