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Depressed Mood Is Related to High-Frequency Heart Rate Variability During Stressors

From Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.

Address reprint requests to: Catherine M. Stoney, PhD, Department of Psychology, Ohio State University, 210 Townshend Hall, 1885 Neil Ave. Mall, Columbus, OH 43210-1222. Email: stoney.1{at}osu.edu

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between depressed mood and parasympathetic control of the heart in healthy men and women at rest and during two stressors.

METHODS: Fifty-three healthy college students completed a laboratory stress protocol that included a baseline resting period, a challenging speech task, and a forehead cold pressor task. Depressed mood was assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Parasympathetic cardiac control was measured as the high-frequency (0.12–0.40 Hz) component (HF) of heart rate variability using power spectrum analysis. Blood pressure, respiration rate, and respiration amplitude were measured simultaneously.

RESULTS: Participants were categorized as having a high or low depressed mood on the basis of median splits of their BDI scores. Those in the high depressed mood group had significantly greater reductions in HF during the speech task and significantly smaller increases in HF during the forehead cold pressor task than those in the low depressed mood group. Women had significantly greater reductions in HF during the speech task and smaller increases in HF during the forehead cold pressor task than men. However, gender and depressed mood did not interact to predict changes in HF.

CONCLUSIONS: Depressed mood is related to the magnitude of decrease in parasympathetic cardiac control during stressors in healthy men and women. These findings extend those of previous studies, in which a similar phenomenon was observed among patients with cardiac disease. Because the participants in this study were healthy, the relationship between depressed mood and parasympathetic cardiac control does not seem to be secondary to cardiovascular disease.

Key Words: heart rate variability • parasympathetic tone, • depression • cardiovascular mortality, • stress • spectral analysis.

Abbreviations: ANOVA = analysis of variance; ANS = autonomic nervous system; BDI = Beck Depression Inventory; BMI = body mass index; DBP = diastolic blood pressure; HF = high-frequency component of heart rate variability; HRV = heart rate variability; MI = myocardial infarction; MMPI-D = Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Depression scale; SBP = systolic blood pressure; STAI = Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.

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