Type A behavior pattern and symptom reports: a prospective investigation

This study examined the relationship between the Type A Behavior Pattern and reporting of a constellation of physical symptoms related to respiratory infections using a prospective design. The results indicate that Types A and B students did not differ significantly in their reports of the frequency or severity of the constellation of symptoms or of individual symptoms over an 87-day period. Furthermore, there were no type differences in the frequency or severity of the symptom constellation reported during a competitive and highly challenging period of time. In view of the contradiction in previously published reports (i.e., reports of both positive and negative relationships between Type A and symptom reporting) and the robust methodological design utilized in the present study, the wholly negative nature of these findings point strongly to the absence of Type A/B differences in symptom reporting.