[Psychological characteristics and physiological reactions to stress in normal and coronary diseased subjects. III. Effect of certain psychological characteristics on physiological reactions to stress]

Adrenal-medullary and adrenal-cortical responses to understimulation and overstimulation: comparison between type A and type B persons

Male and female university students, classified as Type A and Type B persons with the aid of a questionnaire measuring coronary-prone behavior, were studied while doing mental work under laboratory conditions, characterized by understimulation and overstimulation, and while unoccupied (baseline session). The urinary excretion of adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol, heart rate (in the understimulation and baseline conditions) and self-reports were used as indices of arousal. The overall picture showed that both experimental conditions increased arousal, the rise being particularly pronounced for cortisol excretion during understimulation and for adrenaline excretion during overstimulation. Comparison between groups showed that cortisol excretion was higher in Type A than in Type B persons of both sexes during understimulation. Adrenaline excretion was about the same in both sexes (Type A and Type B) during understimulation, but was higher in males than in females during overstimulation. There were no group differences in performance.

Infarct as a stress agent: life history and personality characteristics in improved versus not-improved patients after severe heart attack

Fifty-eight male subjects admitted to an intensive coronary care unit were interviewed and underwent psychometric testing on the second--third day after a severe heart attack (infarct). Seven-ten days following admission, the clinical condition of the patients was evaluated by the attending cardiological staff and rated on a three point scale. The patients were divided, on the basis of the clinical rating, into two groups: improved (N = 25) and non-improved (N = 33). Life history characteristics, MMPI personality profiles, and State-Trait anxiety scores were then compared for the two groups. The not-improved group showed the higher scores on almost all the MMPI scales, higher anxiety scores and more work-related problems than the improved group. Such data give some empirical support to the hypothesis that the physiological and hemodynamical conditon of the cardiac patient is in some way correlated with the patient's style of coping with stress, and his history of previous life stress situations.