Development of an objective psychological test for the determination of the coronary-prone behavior pattern in employed men.

Abstract An overt behavior pattern described by investigators of the Harold Brunn Institute of the Mt. Zion Hospital and Medical Center, San Francisco, has been shown in several studies to be associated both with prevalence and incidence of coronary heart disease. The coronary-prone behavior pattern is characterized by intense striving for achievement, competitiveness, aggressiveness, pressures for vocational productivity, excessive sense of time urgency, impatience and restlessness. Because of the importance of this behavior pattern in predicting risk to coronary heart disease, a rapid, objective method for measuring the pattern is needed for use in epidemiologic studies and for mass-screening in industrial health programs. This paper describes the development of a self-administered, machine-scored psychological test to measure this behavioral pattern. The present form of the test questionnaire distinguishes at high levels of statistical significance between groups of men clinically judged to manifest the coronary-prone behavior pattern and those groups judged not to manifest the pattern. Categorization of individuals is also promising. A series of validity studies using biological and medical criteria is underway.