Anger and cardiovascular risk in adolescents

The present investigation examined the relationship between anger and elevations in cardiovascular risk among adolescents (n = 213). The adolescents were assessed on an anger index and also on certain physical (e.g., blood pressure, cholesterol) and psychological (e.g., anxiety, life dissatisfaction) variables associated with increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. The anger index, a composite of items from various sources, was factor analyzed, producing a terminal solution of two factors: frequent anger directed outward (FAO) and anger-producing situations (AS). Two factor scores were then computed for each subject. Regression analyses, controlling for age and sex, showed that the factor scores were predictive of the physical and psychological measures of cardiovascular risk, and that the factor scores were differentially related to these indices. These preliminary findings are supportive of systematic study both of the multidimensional nature of anger and of the associations of the dimensions of anger with indices of cardiovascular risk.