ABSTRACT
Essential hypertension, defined as sustained high blood pressure for which there is no known physical cause (Pickering, 1990), has generally been acknowledged to be a complex multifactorial disease in which biological, behavioral, and psychosocial factors play a role in its etiology and course (e.g., Davies, 1971; Mann, 1986; Marmot, 1984; Sommers-Flanagan & Greenberg, 1989). In addition, there is accumulating evidence that hypertension and being aware of having elevated blood pressure, in its turn, may influence several psychological functions, including perception, memory, and behavior (e.g., Irvine, Garner, Olmstead, & Logan, 1989; Madden & Blumenthal, 1989), and physiological parameters, including baroreceptor sensitivity (Ditto & France, 1990; Harrell, 1980). These complex interplays imply a dynamic relation between hypertension and various psychological and physiological factors.
