Background: Although cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk increases with age, research supports an increased risk for adults as young as age 35 – highlighting an important need to examine and intervene on CVD risk factors across adulthood to prevent long-term health threats. Dysregulation of biological factors such as blood pressure, heart rate variability, and inflammation promote biological wear and tear on the cardiovascular system, which, over time, enhances CVD risk. Psychological disorders such as major depression are also associated with increased risks for CVD as people age. This study assessed the utility of a single-session psychotherapy training on reducing biological risk factors for CVD in young adults with major depression to identify ways to prevent biological wear and tear as at-risk individuals age.
Methods: Young adults (N=20) diagnosed with major depressive disorder completed a single-session emotion regulation training session. They had their blood pressure measured and provided a finger stick to collect a blood spot for inflammation assay before and 30 minutes following the training. Heart rate variability was collected during a 5-minute resting baseline, during the training, and for a 5-minute recovery period afterwards. C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) measured inflammation.
Results: Results indicated numerical reductions in systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, CRP, and IL-6 from before to after the emotion regulation training (ps = .26 - .34, Cohen’s d = .22 - .27). HRV was also significantly lower after the emotion regulation training compared to a resting baseline (Mdiff = -31.03, t = -6.12, p < .01).
Conclusion: These preliminary results highlight that a brief, single-session training aimed at improving emotion regulation skills can reduce several known biological risk factors for CVD among young adults with major depression. Although longitudinal studies are needed, intervening on these risk factors in young adulthood may buffer against the development of CVD as individuals age.