ABSTRACT
Behavioral factors have long been implicated in the etiology and expression of coronary heart disease (CHD) and in the development of its underlying condition, coronary artery atherosclerosis. The Type A behavior pattern, defined as a style of coping with challenge and characterized by hostility, time urgency, and competitiveness, is perhaps the best-known psychosocial construct to be associated with increased risk of CHD and atherosclerosis. Recent research suggests that the hostility component of the Type A pattern and, more generally, a high “potential for anger-hostility,” are particularly toxic with respect to CHD and atherosclerosis (Siegman, Anderson, Herbst, Boyle, & Wilkinson, 1993; Siegman, Dembrowski, & Ringel, 1987; Costa, McCrae, & Dembrowski, 1989; Dembrowski & Costa, 1988). Further, within the anger-hostility domain, it appears that the expression rather than the experience of these states contributes to the development of disease (Siegman et al., 1993).
