TITLE:
Cardiovascular Reactivity to Short Duration Videos in Adolescents: An Exploratory Study
AUTHORS:
Julia Leclerc, Juliette Samson, Frederike Carrier-Toutant, Jacques E. Leclerc
KEYWORDS:
Adolescents, Cardiovascular Activity, Short Duration Videos, Humor, Sadness, Violence
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Anthropology,
Vol.4 No.3,
August
20,
2014
ABSTRACT: The objective
of this study is to observe the cardiovascular changes associated to the visualization
of three YouTube video sequences: humor-sad-violent in an adolescent population.
Thirty-two adolescents (16 males and 16 females) were shown three YouTube one-minute
sequences (humor-sad-violent). At key points during the sequences, the cardiac rate
(HR) and blood pressure (BP) were recorded. A subjective perceptual evaluation of
the videos was obtained. Statistical evaluation of the data was done with the Mann-Whitney
test. Minor changes in HR and the diastolic blood pressure (DP) were recorded but
did not prove to be statistically significant. Of statistical significance (p p = 0.067). In this exploratory study,
exposure to a violent video sequence was associated with a decrease of the male
adolescents’ average systolic pressure. It is suggested that such a response may
mean a relaxing effect due to this activity. Further investigation is required with
a larger cohort and continuous monitoring to confirm these findings.