Forced expiratory volume is associated with cardiovascular and cortisol reactions to acute psychological stress

Abstract

It has been argued that blunted cardiovascular and cortisol reactions to acute psychological stress reflect a dysregulation of the neural system that supports motivation. We examined the association between forced expiratory volume in 1 s, an effort (hence motivation) dependent measure of lung function measured by spirometry, and cardiovascular and cortisol reactions to a battery of standard psychological stress tasks, assessed 7 years later. Irrespective of how it was expressed, low forced expiratory volume was associated with blunted heart rate and cortisol stress reactivity. The association survived adjustment for smoking, a range of anthropometric and sociodemographic covariates, and commitment to the stress tasks, as well as cognitive ability.