Cardiovascular reactivity during mental stress testing, the type A interview, and exercise testing in healthy male subjects.

We compared the blood pressure (BP) of 61 healthy male Ss during mental arithmetic plus noise, physical exercise testing and the Type A interview. A consistent association between personality characteristics and cardiovascular reactivity was not found. There was a consistent correlation between systolic BP reactivity during mental arithmetic and the Type A interview. Mental arithmetic and exercise testing correlated significantly for middle aged men. No correlation of BP was found between the Type A interview and exercise testing.