Psychological correlates of elevated arterial pressure and smoking in adolescents

Psychological characteristics of adolescents with risk factors of cardiovascular disease (elevated arterial pressure - EAP - and smoking) were examined in Moscow secondary school pupils aged 12-14 years, using an abridged variant of the psychodiagnostic MMPI questionnaire. The following characteristics were found to differentiate these youngsters from a comparable control group of youngsters without the mentioned risk factors: increased anxiety, insufficient self-confidence, deficient understanding of the motives of their own behaviour, and a tendency to deny their own psychological problems. These characteristics are most pronounced in youngsters with neurocirculatory asthenia of hypertensive type. There were also found specific psychological characteristics differentiating youngsters with EAP from smokers without EAP. The authors point to the possibility of working out differentiated methods of psychological intervention in EAP and smoking in adolescents.