Vascular Health and Risk Management (Jun 2023)
Perseverative Cognition as a Mediator Between Personality Traits and Blood Pressure
Abstract
Daniela Arroyave-Atehortua,1 Veronica Cordoba-Sanchez,2 Renato Zambrano-Cruz1 1Psychology Faculty, Cooperative University of Colombia, Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia; 2School of Social, Human Sciences and Education, Institución Universitaria de Envigado, Envigado, Antioquia, ColombiaCorrespondence: Renato Zambrano-Cruz, Psychology Faculty, Cooperative University of Colombia, Medellín, Antioquia, 050012, Colombia, Tel +57 3183544990, Email [email protected]: Several authors link hypertension with psychological dispositions such as stress, personality, and anxiety, some propose that stress is not enough to explain arterial hypertension and others propose the perseverative cognition model to explain. The aim of this study was to relate personality traits and blood pressure profile of a group of workers, examining the results of perseverative cognition as a possible mediating variable concerning blood pressure.Patients and Methods: Cross-sectional design study, with a sample of 76 employees of a Colombian university. The NEO-FFI, RRS, and blood pressure measurement instruments were applied; data were reviewed through correlation and mediation analysis.Results: We found evidence of association between neuroticism and perseverative cognition (rho=0.42 with brooding; rho =0.32 with reflection), but no evidence about mediation of perseverative cognition between personality and blood pressure.Conclusion: It is necessary to keep researching the mechanisms related to the occurrence of hypertension.Keywords: perseverative cognition, personality, blood pressure, hypertension, cross-sectional study
