Skip to main content

Biobehavioral basis of coronary-prone behavior in middle-aged men. Part I: Evidence for chronic SNS activation in Type As.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Williams, RB; Suarez, EC; Kuhn, CM; Zimmerman, EA; Schanberg, SM
Published in: Psychosom Med
1991

In previous research using young male subjects, the Type A behavior pattern was linked with cardiovascular and neurohormonal hyperresponsivity to laboratory stressors. The main objective of the present study was to determine whether the positive association between the Type A pattern and such physiological hyperreactivity is also present among healthy middle-aged men. Subjects were 28 middle-aged (35-50 years) white males who were classified as Type A (n = 16) or Type B (n = 12) on both the Structured Interview and the Jenkins Activity Survey. In two laboratory sessions, one week apart, subjects participated in either a mental arithmetic task or a sensory intake task. Twenty-four-hour urine collection was completed on a third day. Results showed that while no A/B differences in reactivity to either task were found, Type A subjects exhibited chronic elevation of plasma neurohormones on both laboratory days. The catecholamine elevations found across experimental periods on two laboratory days among Type A men generalized to more naturalistic settings, as indexed by 24-hr urinary excretion rates. The chronic elevations in both sympathetic nervous system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function we observed in middle-aged Type A men could account for epidemiological findings of increased coronary risk in this group.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Psychosom Med

DOI

ISSN

0033-3174

Publication Date

1991

Volume

53

Issue

5

Start / End Page

517 / 527

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Type A Personality
  • Task Performance and Analysis
  • Sympathetic Nervous System
  • Stress, Psychological
  • Risk Factors
  • Receptors, Adrenergic, beta
  • Psychiatry
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Humans
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Williams, R. B., Suarez, E. C., Kuhn, C. M., Zimmerman, E. A., & Schanberg, S. M. (1991). Biobehavioral basis of coronary-prone behavior in middle-aged men. Part I: Evidence for chronic SNS activation in Type As. Psychosom Med, 53(5), 517–527. https://doi.org/10.1097/00006842-199109000-00003
Williams, R. B., E. C. Suarez, C. M. Kuhn, E. A. Zimmerman, and S. M. Schanberg. “Biobehavioral basis of coronary-prone behavior in middle-aged men. Part I: Evidence for chronic SNS activation in Type As.Psychosom Med 53, no. 5 (1991): 517–27. https://doi.org/10.1097/00006842-199109000-00003.
Williams RB, Suarez EC, Kuhn CM, Zimmerman EA, Schanberg SM. Biobehavioral basis of coronary-prone behavior in middle-aged men. Part I: Evidence for chronic SNS activation in Type As. Psychosom Med. 1991;53(5):517–27.
Williams, R. B., et al. “Biobehavioral basis of coronary-prone behavior in middle-aged men. Part I: Evidence for chronic SNS activation in Type As.Psychosom Med, vol. 53, no. 5, 1991, pp. 517–27. Pubmed, doi:10.1097/00006842-199109000-00003.
Williams RB, Suarez EC, Kuhn CM, Zimmerman EA, Schanberg SM. Biobehavioral basis of coronary-prone behavior in middle-aged men. Part I: Evidence for chronic SNS activation in Type As. Psychosom Med. 1991;53(5):517–527.

Published In

Psychosom Med

DOI

ISSN

0033-3174

Publication Date

1991

Volume

53

Issue

5

Start / End Page

517 / 527

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Type A Personality
  • Task Performance and Analysis
  • Sympathetic Nervous System
  • Stress, Psychological
  • Risk Factors
  • Receptors, Adrenergic, beta
  • Psychiatry
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Humans