Previous research found a link between violence exposure and daytime systolic blood pressure (the top number) and nighttime diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) among adolescents.
Other researchers find elevated blood pressure, heart rate, and other indicators of a poor resting physiological profile in adults may be linked to the development of high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, and other conditions.
Until now, few studies on the issue have been conducted among children and adolescents.
Study author Dr. Edith Chen, of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and co-author Rama Murali, studied 115 students at a public high school in St. Louis, Missouri.
Subjects ranged in age from 16 to 19 years, all healthy and none taking any heart-related medications.
Blood pressure, heart rate and hormone levels were measured before and after the subjects participated in a stress task and watched a video of serene nature scenes.
Students were classified by observed or experienced violent incidents and by the frequency and intensity of such incidents.
Results are published in the October issue of Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
