Emotional and temperamental correlates of Type A in children and adolescents.

Emotional and behavioral correlates of Type A behavior in children and adolescents were examined in 184 fifth-, seventh-, and ninth-grade students, classified as high or low Type A, using self-report, teacher ratings (fifth grade only), and structured interview procedures. Measures included the Hunter-Wolf A-B Rating Scale, Behavioral Symptoms of Stress Inventory, Dimensions of Temperament Survey, Desire for Control Scale, Eysenck Personality Inventory, and the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist. High Type A children reported significantly more stressed-related behaviors, higher levels of depression, anger, anxiety, and cognitive disorganization, and greater reactivity than Low Type A. No differences were found on measures of temperament (activity level, attention span, adaptibility, and rhythmicity), desire for control, or introversion-extroversion. Females, in general, reported significantly more behavioral stress symptoms. However, no other gender differences were found. Possible reasons for reported differences between Type A children and adults are discussed, along with gender differences in behavioral symptoms. Need for multiple measures of Type A across situation is considered along with need for controlled longitudinal studies of Type A components and the influence of contexts.

Developing measures of type A behavior in children and adolescents.

Development of measures of Type A behavior in children and adolescents is described and the results of two studies to validate these measures are given. Children in the fifth, seventh, and ninth grades (n = 120 in Study I; n = 652 in Study II) were given five measures of the Type A Behavior Pattern (TABP): the Student Type A Behavior Scale (STABS); Student Structured Interviews (SSI), scored separately for content and behavior; Matthews Youth Test for Health (MYTH); and Parent Observation Checklist, as well as measures of state anxiety, trait anxiety, and depression. Descriptive statistics from the two samples were very similar and indicated that boys scored significantly higher than girls on the MYTH, while seventh and ninth grade girls scored significantly higher than fifth grade girls or boys of any grade on Structured Interview Behavior (SSI-Behavior). Correlations suggested separate self-reported perceptual and behavioral components of Type A behavior in children. In both studies, STABS and SSI-Content correlated moderately well (.48 to .49) but had little relationship with SI-Behavior and the MYTH. Measures of anxiety and depression included to assess discriminant validity were correlated with the self-report measures of TABP (.22 to .56), but showed little relationship with the behavioral measures, especially in the larger cross-validation study. Parallels between these results and those of adult studies are discussed, and the use of multiple measures in classifying subjects is suggested.

Physical health correlates of type A behavior in children and adolescents.

A physical examination including resting blood pressure, heart rate, Tanner scales, height, and weight was administered to 184 students in the fifth, seventh, and ninth grades. They completed the Physical Symptoms of Stress Inventory, Health Habits Inventory, and two self-monitoring logs of physical symptoms. School absenteeism, medical records, physician ratings, and family health history data were collected. No significant differences between high- and low-Type A behavior pattern (TABP) subjects were found on any of the physical measurements. However, retrospective and prospective reports of physical symptoms revealed a consistent pattern: high TABP subjects reported significantly more physical symptoms than low-TABP subjects. Self-ratings of stress and tension were significantly higher for high-TABP subjects. High-TABP subjects, however, neither missed more school because of illness nor used physician services more often than low subjects. Further, expected relationships between physical symptoms and illness behavior, including school absence, were evident only for low subjects.