Social insecurity and coronary-prone Type A responses as identifiers of severe atherosclerosis.

Abstract

Tests measuring the coronary-prone Type A behavior pattern, anxiety, and neuroticism were administered to 95 male patients undergoing coronary angiography. Item analyses suggest that men with more serious coronary atherosclerosis are hard-driving, hard-working Type A individuals who put pressure on themselves to solve problems, meet deadlines, and to move up the social ladder. At the same time, these patients are often uncomfortable in their interpersonal relationships and they feel awkward and insecure when in groups. They obtain their rewards in life from seeking achievement rather than from socializing with people. They seem to have a low threshold for becoming tense or depressed. The present study suggests that the combination of these two sets of essentially independent psychological characteristics, Type A behavior and social insecurity, portends a greater severity of atherosclerosis than the possession of either single characteristic alone.Studies from many parts of the world have now replicated earlier findings that at least two clusters of psychological variables are associated with the presence of coronary heart disease (Jenkins, 1971(Jenkins, , 1976. The first such variable is the coronary-prone behavior pattern, Type A-an overt style of behavior that is hard driving, competitive, impatient, hurried, aggressive, and intensely committed to vocational goals. The social psychological properties of the Type A pattern have recently been summarized by Glass (1977). This behavior pattern can be measured either through a structured interview (Rosenman, et al., 1964) or through a self-administered computer-scored test, the Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS; Jenkins, Rosenman, & Friedman, 1967). Each of these methods has been shown to be associated with coronary heart disease prevalence, incidence, and with recurrence of myocardial infarction (Jenkins, 1971(Jenkins, , 1976.

Assessment of the Type A Behavior Pattern in Adolescents

“…With regard to the social insecurity cluster, Type B's consistently scored higher than Type A's, which is in line with Glass's research on college students (2). These findings, however, are not consistent with previous work by Jenkins et al (30), which showed that the social insecurity items were independent of Pattern A. Differences in measurement instruments (the JAS versus the ASI and the BARS) and populations may be accounting for this disparity in findings.…”

“…Jenkins et al (30) have shown that social insecurity and heart disease are related in an adult population. However, social insecurity was found to be independent of Type A behaviors as assessed by the JAS.…”

“…Furthermore, social withdrawal was negatively correlated with Type A scores in the college sample (2). It was of interest, therefore, to examine the relationship between Pattern A, as assessed by the ASI and the BARS, and the social insecurity items used in previous research (30). These items include: Frequently has to fight against showing bashfulness; Certainly lacking in self-confidence; Has trouble thinking of the right things to talk about when in a group of people; and Is hurt terribly by scolding or criticism.…”

RETRACTED: Method of test administration as a factor in test validity: the use of a personality questionnaire in the prediction of cancer and coronary heart disease

“…Questionnaires to measure these hypothetical personality types have been constructed (e.g. Jenkins, Zyzanski, Ryan, Flessas & Tannenbaum, 1977;Eysenck & Fulker, 1983, for CHD;Grossarth-Maticek & Eysenck, 1990, for cancer). There are two ways of providing construct validity, namely (1) demonstrating that probands high on Type C are diagnosed as suffering from cancer, while probands high on Type A are diagnosed as suffering from coronary heart disease, more frequently than vice versa, and that probands of Type B are found to be healthy.…”

Quality of Performance of Attention-demanding Task and Emotional Reactivity During a Task of Type a Individuals

“…C. D. Jenkins et al (1977) stated that type A individuals do not feel negative emotional affectivity in stressful situations, because they tend suppress the recognition of physiological discomfort associated with the behavioural pattern. However, some studies revealed that Type A behaviour pattern is related with emotional distress and neurotism (Cramer, 1991;Moriana, Heruzo, 2005).…”