PMBC Home Page . . .
Overview, Common Pathways Model, Administrative structureLink to PMBC Members and Contact InfoUpcoming and past Lectures, Workshops, Journal Clubs, etc.Pilot research and other PMBC research projects, PMBC publicationsReviews of assessment tools, Consultation, Equipment referralsClinical Scholars Program, Workshops, Lectures, Summer InstituteMeasurement Resources . . .Request consult on Biological, Psychosocial, Health Behavior, or Sleep research
 

 

 The major objective of this project is to identify the pathways connecting chronic burdens
and resources with the development of early signs of atherosclerosis in women.  The study
population was composed of 379 women recruited from the ongoing Healthy Women Study
begun in 1983 who had or were schedule to undergo electron beam tomography to measure
coronary calcification, an index of calcified plaque in the coronary arteries.  The women are
primarily Caucasian, mean age of 65.1 years, and relatively healthy because of the study
eligibility criteria.  The PMBC protocol included measures of salivary cortisol across two days,
overnight catecholamine values, detailed self-report measure of key constructs in the PMBC
model, and, in this project only, psychophysiological assessment during standardized
psychological challenges.  Analyses are ongoing.

For further information about this project, contact Karen A. Matthews, Ph.D.

Publications
Gianaros PJ, Salomon K, Zhou F, Owens JF, Edmundowicz D, Kuller LH,
Matthews KA: A greater reduction in high-frequency heart rate variability to a
psychological stressors is associated with subclinical coronary and aortic
calcification in postmenopausal women.  Psychosom Med 67: 553-560, 2005.
Matthews KA, Owens JF, Edmundowicz D, Lee L, Kuller LH:  Positive and negative
attributes and risk for coronary and aortic calcification in healthy women. 
Psychosom Med 68:355-361, 2006.
  Revised 7/11/2007 LA / tc

 

PMBC Home Page . . .