Commended as pressure increased (7)
I believe the answer is:
praised
'commended' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'pressure increased' is the wordplay.
'pressure' becomes 'p' (abbreviation).
'increased' becomes 'raised' (raising is a kind of increasing).
'p'+'raised'='PRAISED'
'as' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for praised that I've seen before include "Commended" , "Exalted" , "Lauded, extolled" , "Acclaimed" , "well-received" .)