Acute effects of alcohol on cardiovascular reactivity to stress in college-age Type A (coronary prone) individuals

Healthy college-age males and females classified as Type A or Type B were randomly assigned to an alcohol (N=24) or a no-alcohol condition (N=24). Subjects were exposed to a verbal stress quiz while blood pressure, heart rate, peripheral vascular response (PVR), and self-reported anxiety indices were monitored. Results indicated that alcohol effected a reduction in resting levels of systolic blood pressure and a tonic reduction in the peripheral vascular response. Alcohol attenuated the systolic blood pressure, heart rate, and PVR to stress and efffected a decrease in anxiety following the Stressor. When analyzed relative to the participants' drinking experience, data indicated that the strongest stress-modulating effect of alcohol was evidenced by Type A subjects who have been identified as long-term drinkers. During recovery from stress Type A subjects identified as short-term drinkers maintained high levels of PVR. Types A and B subjects who did not ingest alcohol evidenced high PVR levels during stress. The findings are discussed in terms of the protective action of moderate chronic alcohol use on cardiovascular disease risk reduction in persons evidencing the coronary-prone behavior pattern.