Questionnaires administered to 1822 members of the Framingham Heart Study from 1965 to 1967 provided measures of personality type, sociocultural mobility, situational stress and somatic strain. Clusters of questions selected by a panel of experts, and verified by item and factor analysis, formed scales of Type A behavior and other psychosocial states. The Framingham Type A behavior scale was significantly correlated with daily stress (.47), emotional lability (.43), tension (.42), anger symptoms (.34), and ambitiousness (.31). Women were less likely than men to be ambitious and to exhibit the Framingham Type A behavior, and were more likely than men to be emotionally labile, tense, and to suppress hostility. Few consistent associations were found between psychosocial stress measures and levels of blood pressure or cholesterol. Social status and marital conflicts were significantly associated with patterns of smoking. The Framingham Type A behavior pattern and other psychosocial measures were not related to the level of CHD risk, as determined by the Framingham logistic equations.
In a cross-sectional study of 1822 persons aged 45 to 77 years of age, the association of 20 psychosocial scales with coronary heart disease (CHD) prevalence was assessed. Women (aged 45 to 64 years) with coronary disease scored significantly higher on the Framingham Type A behavior, emotional lability, aging worries, tension, and anger symptoms scales than women free of CHD. The prevalence of CHD was significantly higher among working women and housewives classified as Type A than as Type B behavior. Among men under 65 years, Framingham Type A behavior, aging worries, daily stress, and tension were associated with the prevalence of myocardial infarction (MI). For men and women over 65 years, marital dissatisfactions or disagreements were significantly related to the prevalence of CHD. In a multivariate analysis, the above associations were controlled for age, blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, and other psychosocial scales. Among women under 65 years of age, Framingham Type A behavior and emotional lability remained significant discriminators of CHD prevalence. Aging worries significantly differentiated men under 65 with and without MI. Issues related to the interpretation of results from cross-sectional studies are discussed, and four hypotheses are suggested for future prospective work in this area.
On April 16, 1979, Massachusetts raised its legal drinking age from 18 to 20 years. Massachusetts was compared with New York State, exclusive of New York City and Nassau County. New York State retained an 18-year-old drinking age. Random telephone surveys with approximately 1,000 16-19 year olds in each state were undertaken prior to the law's enactment and twice at yearly intervals after the law to assess the law's impact on teenage drinking, driving after drinking, and non-fatal accident involvement. Fatal crash data reported to the US Department of Transportation by each state from April 16, 1976-April 15, 1981 were also analyzed. After the law, although the modes of procuring alcohol changed. No significant changes were observed in Massachusetts relative to New York in the proportion of surveyed teenagers who reported that they drank or in the volume of their consumption. The proportion of teenagers who drove after drinking heavily (six or more drinks at one time) did not decline in Massachusetts relative to New York. However, the frequency that teenagers reported driving after any drinking declined significantly in Massachusetts. Frequency of teenage driving after marijuana use and non-fatal teenage accidents declined at comparable rates in both states. The numbers of teenage nighttime single vehicle fatal accidents declined more in Massachusetts than New York, in the 18-19 year age group. Overall fatal accident trends among 16-19 year olds in the two states were similar.
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.