Given the insidious nature of essential hypertension (EH) and its status as the number one risk factor for cardiovascular related morbidity and mortality, this study will be the first step in a series of programmatic experiments aimed at examining the independent and interactive influences of alcohol consumption and family history of hypertension (FHH) on resting and stressor induced cardiovascular activity with the goal of understanding their roles in the pathophysiology of EH in young male and female social drinkers without a family history of alcoholism. This project will be a 2 (FHH positive or FHH negative) by 2 (randomly assigned to non-stress or stressful task) design replicated across genders. All groups will have mean levels of heart rate and blood pressure monitored during the final five of a 20-minute baseline, a 4- minute task period, each minute of (a) a 20 minute post-task alcohol administration period, and (b) a 15-minute anticipation period where they will be expecting to repeat the same task. A-priori contrasts, within gender, will compare groups in resting, task-related, administration, and anticipatory levels of physiology and affect. All subjects will receive a .5 ml/kg quantity of alcohol immediately post- task to induce blood-alcohol levels of 0.3-.04 percent; Stress Response Dampening (SRD) effects will be examined as affecting physiology and affect during the anticipation period. SRD effects are expected to be most pronounced the FHH positive group anticipating a stressful mental arithmetic task.
