Aerobic exercise and Type A behaviour.

The Type A behaviour pattern is a well-documented, if controversial, risk factor for coronary heart disease. Surprisingly, relatively little work has been reported on ways of modifying this behaviour pattern. Aerobic exercise, with its demonstrated benefits for both cardiovascular reactivity and psychological 'well-being', is a promising treatment. The literature is reviewed and recommendations are made for practical applications and future research.

Church attendance, religiosity, and health.

Many studies have reported a beneficial effect of church attendance on one's health. Little attempt has been made, however, to ascertain what aspect of the behavior might be responsible for the effect, so church attendance, religiosity, and health were examined in a sample of 174 graduate students (ages 19 to 69 years). Neither attendance nor religiosity was significantly associated in this sample with the frequency or seriousness of illness experienced over the previous 12-mo. period. These findings are discussed in relation to sample characteristics.

Gender and cardiovascular responses: what is the role of hostility?

Two experiments are reported investigating hostility group by gender effects on heart rate and blood pressure. In experiment 1, 58 males and 59 females were tested with a protocol that included baseline, reaction time with and without harassment, and recovery. In experiment 2, 55 males and 50 females participated in a procedure of baseline, Stroop color--word conflict, anger recall interview, and recovery. Based on Buss-Durkee subscales, genders were divided into high and low neurotic hostility and expressed hostility groups. High expressed hostility was associated with greater diastolic reactivity to all tasks in males, but not in females. Low expressed hostility was associated with greater heart rate and systolic reactivity, specifically during the anger recall interview. High neurotic hostility in males and females was associated with greater diastolic reactivity to the anger task only, while low Neurotic hostility males had higher resting systolic pressures. These results suggest that outward expression of hostility in men may increase their coronary heart disease risk; however, results for both men and women support an association between cardiovascular reactivity and a lack of match between self-reported anger management style and task demands.

A prospective study of women's health: the effects of stress, hardiness, locus of control, Type A behavior, and physiological reactivity.

This study was a five-year follow-up of women who had participated in a previous experiment. At time one, we obtained measures of hardiness, Type A behavior, locus of control, stress, illness, and physiological reactivity. At time two, we obtained measures of illness for the past twelve months. Multiple regression analyses support the hypotheses that both hardiness and locus of control buffer the effects of stress on illness. Furthermore, Type A classification was associated with greater illness frequency and resting systolic blood pressure predicted future health status. An examination of all variables simultaneously revealed that future illness frequency is best predicted by locus of control x stress, high resting systolic blood pressure and low systolic reactivity. Future illness severity was best predicted by locus of control and resting systolic blood pressure. These results support the hypotheses that hardiness and locus of control buffer the effects of stress on health in women employed as clerical workers; however, the predictive power of hardiness in these women is largely accounted for by the contribution of locus of control.

Control, type A behavior and cardiovascular responsivity in adult women employed as clerical workers.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship among control, Type A behavior and cardiovascular responsivity in female clerical workers. Control was examined by assessing locus of control and by employing a learned helplessness paradigm. Helplessness was varied by three treatment conditions on a concept identification task: (1) a helplessness condition where noncontingent feedback was provided, (2) a moderate helplessness condition, and (3) a no helplessness (no feedback) condition. The effects of these treatments on performance were examined by measuring trials to criterion on a subsequent anagram task. Heart rate and blood pressure were monitored during rest periods and tasks. Both Types A and B women exhibited learned helplessness. Type As who experienced the helplessness treatment responded with greater increases in systolic blood pressure and greater decreases in heart rate variability on the anagram task. During the helplessness task itself, Type A women with an external locus of control were the most reactive group as indexed by heart rate and heart rate variability. For those women experiencing moderate helplessness, external locus of control Type As had higher systolic blood pressure levels on both tasks. These results suggest that task-induced lack of control or external locus of control is associated with increased cardiovascular reactivity in Type A women.

Allocation of attention and physiological responsivity in the type A coronary-prone individual.

Recent studies have suggested that persons exhibiting the Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern allocate their attention to the environment differently than those not exhibiting the pattern. The present study was done to relate such differences in cognitive responding to cardiovascular changes during a dual-focus task. Heart rate and blood pressure were monitored in Types A and B male college students while they performed a color/word conflict primary task and a reaction-time secondary task. There were no differences in the behavioral performance of the Types A and B individuals. However, Types A and B subjects differed in mean heart rate, heart-rate variability, and phasic heart-rate pattern to the reaction-time stimuli. The reaction-time paradigm appears a fruitful base from which to explore cognitive/physiological response relations for Type A and Type B individuals.

The relationship of stress, type A behavior and powerlessness to physiological responses in female clerical workers.

The present study examined the relationship of stress levels, Type A behavior, and feelings of powerlessness to physiological reactivity in a group of adult women employed as secretaries. Reactivity was assessed by monitoring blood pressure, heart rate and frontalis EMG while subjects engaged in a series of tasks: rest, mental arithmetic, vigilance, a structured interview and a work interview. When Type A behavior was assessed by a structured interview, Type A's had higher overall levels of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, a tendency toward greater EMG reactivity, and high stress Type A's had higher heart rates than low stress Type A's. When Type A was assessed by a questionnaire, Type A interacted with stress levels and lack of control such that high stress, high powerlessness Type A's had higher overall levels of systolic and diastolic blood pressure and high powerlessness Type A's had higher levels of heart rate than high powerlessness Type B's. While reactivity was not related to Type A behavior, it was related to stress levels. Women with high levels of background stress responded with larger increases in systolic blood pressure and a tendency toward larger increases in heart rate. This research emphasizes the importance of examining multiple factors, especially when relating individual differences in risk to psychophysiological reactivity.

Hardiness, type A behavior, and the stress-illness relation in working women.

Hardiness has been proposed as a stress-resistance resource in maintaining health. This construct has been shown to act in conjunction with the Type A behavior pattern in affecting illness. In this study, we examined this relation in women (N = 82) with the use of the Structured Interview and the Jenkins Activity Survey to assess Type A behavior. As expected, there was a strong stress-illness association. However, there were no hardiness main effects nor interactions between stress, Type A behavior, and hardiness. Hardiness was significantly associated with age, education level, and marital status. No differences in hardiness composition were found between high stress/high illness and high stress/low illness groups. Only the Powerlessness scale of hardiness was related to illness. These results are discussed in comparison with other hardiness studies. Particular attention is focused on possible sex differences, and implications for future research are suggested.