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a Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA
b School of Medicine, University of California at San Diego
c Department of Exercise Science, University of South Carolina, Columbia
d Division of Epidemiology, Department of Health Research & Policy, and the Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA
Correspondence: Audie A. Atienza, PhD, Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention, Stanford University, 730 Welch Road, Suite B, Palo Alto, CA 94304-1583. E-mail: audie.atienza{at}stanford.edu.
Decision Editor: Laurence G. Branch, PhD
Purpose: This study examined gender differences in cardiovascular responses to laboratory-based stress, as well as in ambulatory hemodynamic (i.e., blood pressure and heart rate) functioning among caregivers of persons with dementia. Design & Methods: Participants were 25 men and 25 women caregivers, matched on age, type of care recipient's dementia, and relationship to the care recipient. After cardiovascular reactivity to a laboratory-based caregiving stressor was assessed, the ambulatory hemodynamic functioning levels of caregivers were measured in caregivers' natural environments. Results:Female caregivers displayed greater systolic and diastolic blood pressure reactivity to a laboratory-based stress task (i.e., discussing caregiving difficulties) compared with male caregivers (p 
.01). In contrast, no gender differences were found for ambulatory hemodynamic functioning when aggregated overall or when in the presence of the care recipient. Implications: Laboratory-based findings suggest that female caregivers experience greater blood pressure reactivity to caregiving-related stress than do male caregivers. However, these laboratory-based gender differences may not generalize to differences in hemodynamic functioning in caregivers' daily lives.
Key Words: Stress • Blood pressure • Heart rate
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