The study examines the developmental origins of one coronary-prone component of the Type A pattern, the tendency to suppress attention to physical symptoms. The symptom-reporting behavior of 85 male and female children from 5 to 14 years of age was studied in both a laboratory and a clinical context along with associated illness behaviors. The results indicate that Type A children underreport a wide variety of symptoms and that this phenomenon is independent of sex and age. On some types of symptoms, Type A underreporting may increase with age. In addition, there is evidence that Type A children (boys in particular) miss less school following surgery. Interestingly, Type A children tend to be underrepresented in elective surgery populations. The apparent continuities in symptom reporting and illness behaviors among Type A children and coronary adults is discussed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.