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Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in Men With Poor Emotional Control: A Prospective Study

Marieke R Potijk1, Imre Janszky, Sijmen A Reijneveld

  • 1From the Departments of Health Sciences, Community & Occupational Medicine (Potijk, Reijneveld), University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands; the Department of Public Health and General Practice (Janszky), NTNU, Trondheim, Norway; and the Department of Public Health Sciences (Falkstedt), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Psychosomatic Medicine
|November 17, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Poor emotional control in adolescence significantly predicted long-term coronary heart disease (CHD) risk, especially in men with a family history of CHD. Lifestyle factors influenced this association, but the link persisted in high-risk individuals.

Area of Science:

  • Psychosocial factors and cardiovascular health
  • Adolescent emotional regulation and adult disease risk
  • Public health and preventative medicine

Background:

  • Psychosocial factors like hostility, anger, and depression are linked to coronary heart disease (CHD).
  • Emotion regulation abilities may underlie these psychosocial factors.
  • The study investigates if poor emotional control predicts long-term CHD risk.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if poor emotional control in adolescence predicts the long-term risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).
  • To examine the association between adolescent emotional control and incident CHD over 38 years of follow-up.

Main Methods:

  • A Swedish national cohort of 46,393 men conscripted in 1969-1970 was studied.
  • Adolescent emotional control was retrospectively assessed via a semistructured interview.
  • Coronary heart disease (CHD) events were tracked for 38 years, with hazard ratios (HRs) calculated.

Main Results:

  • Poor emotional control was associated with an increased risk of CHD (HR = 1.31).
  • This association was attenuated after adjusting for lifestyle factors (HR = 1.08).
  • The link between poor emotional control and CHD remained significant in men with a parental history of CHD (HR = 1.49).

Conclusions:

  • Poor emotional control did not show a direct effect on CHD risk independent of lifestyle factors in the general population.
  • However, in men with a parental history of CHD, adolescent poor emotional control remained a significant predictor of long-term CHD risk.
  • This highlights a potential genetic-environmental interaction in CHD development.
Abstract

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