Effects of Emotional and Physical Stress on Pulse Count and Blood Pressure Between Gender

Taylor Pust

21 February 2018

Biology 240M Lab

Section 001

Partners: Kathryn King, Mark Leone, Chris Hudson

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Introduction

Cardiac health is prevalent in the lives of many people, which is why it is crucial to

understand what factors affect it, both negatively and positively. Cardiac issues are the leading

cause of death for both genders, which attributes to one in every four deaths within the United

States. Researchers are constantly attempting to find answers and cures to these cardiac issues

that millions of Americans encounter. These issues arise from a myriad of known and unknown

factors, which is what prompts the intensive research that is constantly being done.[1] There is

currently irrefutable scientific evidence that proves regular exercise activity prevents several

chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease. Because of this, researchers believe that

there is a linear correlation between physical activity and one’s health status. [2]

An aspect that is often studied in respect to cardiac disease is psychological stress. A

group of researchers looked at stressors such as a divorce, natural disaster, job stress, and

unhappiness and looked for a correlation with cardiac health. They came to the conclusion that

these stressors did, in fact, have deleterious effects on the heart. They did not necessarily see a

difference between genders, but emphasized the fact that they both experienced negative effects.

[3]
Other studies have shown that all psychological and emotional stress has some effect on

cardiac health. [4] Because of this, there have been many stress management approaches put into

place to reduce stress on cardiac health in order to decrease patient’s suffering and enhance their

quality of life.

Additionally, researchers have performed tests where they look at the subject’s gender

and its relationship to stress. Researchers initially believed that there would be a greater stress

found in females than in males, due to how women handle situations differently than males.
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However, after having them perform different tasks and ask them questions about their day-to-

day lives, they came to the conclusion that their hypothesis could not be supported. There was

no evidence to prove women had more stress, rather, they seemed to experience the same level of

stress.[5] This is important to note because stress plays a large role in cardiac health across all

genders.

When it comes to exercise, researchers have been studying how gender affects blood

pressure after physical stress. To measure this, researchers had both men and women exercise

intensely and measure their blood pressure post-exercise. The results showed that females had a

slightly higher blood pressure, but it was not a statistically significant difference. [6] Studies like

these demonstrate gender and its relationship to physical stresses. Researchers are still looking

into gender and physical stress, but as of now there does not seem to be a clear connection if

there is a difference in blood pressure post-exercise. [7]

For this lab experiment, the effects of emotional and physical stress on heart rate and

blood pressure between gender were studied. This was done by doing two different activities,

winding a Jack-in-the-Box and exercising with a box, where pre-activity and post-activity blood

pressure and heart rate were compared. Based on studied knowledge, it is predicted that females

and males will have a roughly equal cardiac response, in terms of pulse and blood pressure, in

terms of both physical and emotional stressors.

Methods

Before beginning the procedure for the physical and emotional stress, data from each

group member had to be collected. This data included age, sex, weight, height, how often they

smoke, amount of caffeine per day, amount of alcohol per week, and time spent exercising per
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week. Then, each member’s resting heart rate, resting systolic blood pressure, and resting

diastolic blood pressure were recorded. This acted as a control so that the data could be

compared to the post-exercise and post-Jack-in-the-Box data. [8]

Exercise

The physical stress of this experiment was achieved by exercising. The exercise portion

of the lab was done by measuring 30-second pulse counts. The exercise that was done was a

four-count activity, where the subjects stepped up on a box continuously for one minute. There

were differing box sizes that corresponded to different heights in order to ensure proper data.

This was done by using 30 steps/minute, which is equivalent to 4 counts/step. After a minute of

stepping up and down on the box, the subject sat down on a nearby stool where their pulse and

heart rate post-exercise were taken. [8]

Jack-in-the-Box

The emotional stress that was tested involved a Jack-in-the-Box. Individually, each group

member was taken to a secluded area where they were told to turn the handle on the Jack-in-the-

Box until it popped open. Immediately after this stress was triggered, the subject’s pulse and heart

rate were taken once again. This had to be done directly after in order to ensure that an accurate

representation of stress-induced blood pressure and pulse could be collected.[8]

After both the physical and emotional stress tests were performed, data was collected and

placed into an excel sheet with every group’s data. This data is representative of 13 females and

10 males in the class. With this data, percent difference, average, standard deviation, and standard

error for resting, exercise, and Jack-in-the Box were all calculated. This was done for the 30 second

pulse counts, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure. Using 2 tailed t-tests with type
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3 data and a significance level of .05, the p-values were also calculated. [8] The 2 tailed t-test with

type 3 data was used because a standard deviation in either direction was expected, and the sample

sizes were unequal in number.

Results

Table 1: Resting levels for males and females are roughly equal.
Average SE
Males Females Males Females
Pulse
count 38.602 38.6661538 1.29905675 0.8853924
Sys.BP 119.9 119.615386 2.06263047 1.82412066
Dias.BP 75.4 74.6153846 1.69443534 1.43909899

Resting Level Values

140
120
Value (bpm, mmHg)

100
80
60
40
20
0
Pulse count Sys.BP Dias.BP
Measurement Type

Average Males Average Females

Figure 1: This figure correlates with Table 1.

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Table 2: The average change in pulse count is slightly higher for the females than it is for the
males for both the exercise and the Jack-in-the-Box.
Pulse av. % diff SE
count Males Females Males Females
30 Steps 33.27505 40.662602 6.0074336 7.6660205
Jack 8.9248883 15.565692 2.1118164 4.5192441

Normalized Average Change in Pulse Count

60

50
Value (bpm)

40

30

20

10

0
30 Steps Jack
Stress Type

av. % diff Males av. % diff Females

Figure 2: This figure correlates with Table 2.

Table 3: The average change in systolic blood pressure is higher for males than it is for females.
av. % diff SE
Sys.BP Males Females Males Females
30 Steps 16.495749 10.244004 3.099274 1.6984426
Jack 14.168247 7.6073632 5.1184761 1.3993977
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Normalized Average Change in Systolic BP

25

20
Value (mmHg)

15

10

0
30 Steps Jack
Stress Type

av. % diff Males av. % diff Females

Figure 3: This figure correlates with Table 3.

Table 4: The average change in diastolic blood pressure after exercise is higher for males, and
higher for females for the Jack-in-the-Box.
av. % diff SE
Dias.BP Males Females Males Females
30-steps 10.763817 7.845526 1.8136315 2.120477
Jack 5.6800273 9.5547671 1.6623515 1.9894069

Average Change in Diastolic BP

14
12
Value (mmHg)

10
8
6
4
2
0
30-steps Jack
Stress Type

av. % diff Males av. % diff Females

Figure 4: This figure correlates with Table 4.

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Table 5: These values are the p-values calculated for the t-test values.

T-Test P-Values

Pulse Count Systolic Blood Pressure Diastolic Blood Pressure

30 Steps Jack-in-the- 30 Steps Jack-in-the- 30 Steps Jack-in-the-

Box Box Box
.456561159 .200844765 .098286827 .243616986 .307509797 .149916705

None of the calculated data was proven to be statistically significant because they are greater

than the significance level of .05.

Discussion

As seen in Figure 1 and Table 1, the resting values for males and females are roughly

equal. This makes sense because previous studies have shown that males and females both have

equal blood pressure and pulse.[9] These results are pre-stress-induced activities, so nothing

would be causing these values to differ from each other.

When looking at Figure 2 and Table 2, it is apparent that the females have a slightly

higher pulse count than males do after both exercise and Jack-in-the-Box. This difference,

however, is not statistically significant. Table 5 shows that the p-value is .456561159 for the 30

steps and .200844765 for the Jack-in-the-Box, which means that there is no statistically

significant difference between the genders when looking at the normalized change in pulse count

because they are greater than the significance level of .05.

As seen in Figure 3 and Table 3, the males have a slightly higher average change in

systolic blood pressure after exercise and the Jack-in-the-Box than females do. However, when

looking at Table 5, it is apparent that neither of these values are statistically significant. The p-
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value for the systolic blood pressure for exercise is .098286827 and .243616986 for the Jack-in-

the Box. Since both of these values are greater than .05, the significance level, they are not

considered significant.

By looking at Figure 4 and Table 4, it is apparent that the average change in diastolic

blood pressure after exercise is higher in males, but the average change in diastolic blood

pressure after Jack-in-the-Box is higher for females. Once again, when looking at Table 5,

neither of these values are statistically significant. The p-value for diastolic blood pressure is

.307509797 after exercise and .149916705 after the Jack-in-the-Box. Both of these values are

larger than .05, which means there is no statistically significant difference between genders when

it comes to diastolic blood pressure.

Based on all of these values, there is no statistically significant difference between males

and females when looking at emotional and physical stress on pulse count, systolic blood

pressure, and diastolic blood pressure. This means that the hypothesis is accepted because there

seems to be no clear differences when it comes to cardiac responses in this experiment.

Data already presented in the scientific world proves that stress and exercise affects

cardiac health at immense rates.[9] There have been studies down outside of this experiment that

show no significant differences on cardiac responses between gender, but there have also been

studies that show significant differences.[10] Some errors that may have occurred during this lab

may have resulted from measuring blood pressure and heart rate incorrectly. For future

experiments, it would better to have a professional take this data to ensure that it is all accurate.

Future experiments, it would be interesting to see if there would be a difference in cardiac

responses across different ethnicities. It could be done by collecting a large sample size of

ethnically diverse people and performing different stress-tests to see how it affects their cardiac
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response.
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References

1. Reece, Jane B., et al. Campbell Biology. Tenth edition. Boston: Pearson, 2014.

2. Warburton, Darren E.R., Crystal Whitney Nicol, and Shannon S.D. Bredin. “Health Benefits

of Physical Activity: The Evidence.” CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association Journal 174.6

(2006): 801–809. PMC. Web. 14 Feb. 2018.

3. Dimsdale, Joel E. “Psychological Stress and Cardiovascular Disease.” Journal of the

American College of Cardiology 51.13 (2008): 1237–1246. PMC. Web. 14 Feb. 2018.

4. Huffman, J C. “Collaborative Care and Related Interventions in Patients with Heart Disease:

An Update and New Directions.” Psychosomatics, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2018,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29078987.

5. Kania, Stephanie K. “The Relationship Between Gender Differences and Stress.” e Huron

University College Journal of Learning and Motivation, 2014,

ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1098&context=hucjlm.

6. Wielemborek-Musial, Katarzyna. “Blood Pressure Response to Submaximal Exercise Test in

Adults.” BioMed Research International, Hindawi Publishing Corporation, 2016,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5040833/.

7. Dimsdale, Joel E. “Psychological Stress and Cardiovascular Disease.” Journal of the

American College of Cardiology 51.13 (2008): 1237–1246. PMC. Web. 14 Feb. 2018.
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8. Burpee, D., Axtell, M., and K. Nelson, eds. A Laboratory Manual for Biology 240W:

Function and Development of Organisms. 2018. Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania

State University, University Park, PA.

9. Huang, Chun-Jung et al. “Cardiovascular Reactivity, Stress, and Physical

Activity.” Frontiers in Physiology 4 (2013): 314. PMC. Web. 14 Feb. 2018.

10. Maas, A.H.E.M., and Y.E.A. Appelman. “Gender Differences in Coronary Heart

Disease.” Netherlands Heart Journal 18.12 (2010): 598–602. Print.