Stress and cardiovascular disease risk behaviours: implications for health behaviour change

This brief paper presents an integrative framework helpful in understanding the relationships between stress and cardiovascular disease risk behaviours. Key concepts such as cardiovascular reactivity, type A behaviour and hostility, ways of coping with both life and illness-related stressors, and the challenges associated with changing risk behaviours can support a patient's behaviour change efforts if communicated in a personally salient manner. Assessing the determinants of health behaviour change facilitates tailoring of interventions and can more precisely identify a patient's needs for referral to a psychologist with expertise in health behaviour issues.