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Components of hostility and the severity of coronary artery disease
Insights
Hostility
Area of Science:
- Cardiology and Psychology
Background:
- Hostility is linked to coronary heart disease (CHD).
- The specific dimensions of hostility's relationship with coronary artery disease (CAD) require further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the differential associations between dimensions of hostility and the severity of angiographically documented coronary artery disease (CAD).
Main Methods:
- Compared a hostility measure correlated with neuroticism against one unrelated to neurotic tendencies.
- Assessed hostility's relationship with CAD severity in patients 60 years and younger.
Main Results:
- Neurotic hostility was inversely associated with CAD severity in younger patients.
- Non-neurotic hostility was positively related to CAD extent in younger patients.
- Overall hostility scores showed no association with CAD severity.
Conclusions:
- Hostility is a multidimensional construct.
- Different dimensions of hostility have distinct associations with coronary artery disease severity.
- Future research should consider the multidimensional nature of hostility when examining its link to CHD.
Abstract:
Previous research has linked various measures of hostility to the prevalence and incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD). The present study sought to determine whether some dimensions of hostility are differentially related to angiographically documented severity of coronary artery disease (CAD). Specifically, a hostility measure that correlates with indices of neuroticism was compared with a hostility measure unrelated to neurotic tendencies. For patients 60 years and younger, results were significant, revealing that neurotic hostility was inversely associated with severity of CAD whereas nonneurotic hostility scores were positively related to extent of disease. Overall hostility scores derived from the combination of the two kinds of hostility measures were unrelated to CAD severity. Results suggest that the multidimensional nature of the hostility construct should be appreciated in attempts to associate measures of hostility with manifestations of CHD.