[Relationship between psychosocial and cardiovascular variables in adolescents]

The present investigation analyzes the relationship between one of the principal behavioral factors associated with cardiovascular disease in the adult (the type A behavior pattern) and resting physiological measures (blood pressure and heart rate) in an adolescent sample. Two other psychosocial factors, anger and anxiety, were also analyzed. The study was carried out on 410 adolescents. The results showed that most adolescents who had high resting blood pressure were type-A personalities, showing scores significantly higher in the impatient and hostile components. Results also showed that these subjects scored quite high on anxiety and anger scales when compared to the control group.