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Normal values for Type A behaviour patterns in Danish men and women and in potential high‐risk groups
Author(s) -
STERNDORFF BENT,
SMITH DONALD F.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1467-9450
pISSN - 0036-5564
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9450.1990.tb00801.x
Subject(s) - danish , risk factor , population , angina , type a and type b personality theory , psychology , atrial fibrillation , medicine , cardiology , coronary heart disease , psychiatry , myocardial infarction , philosophy , linguistics , environmental health
The Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS) was administered to a normal population of randomly selected Danish adults, to patients consulting a cardiologist, and to physicians in order to compare those groups in terms of their coronary‐prone (Type A) behaviour patterns. The standard procedure of rating the JAS was used in order to obtain scores for each of the four subscales: Type A (time urgency and ambitiousness), Factor S (speed and impatience) Factor H (hard‐driving and competitive) and Factor J (job involvement). Gender differences were observed in the normal population for each of the four subscale scores, and age‐related differences were obtained for Factor J. Elevated scores for Factor S were obtained by physicians and by people in the population who had a cardiovascular disorder. Physicians had also elevated scores for Factor J, whereas their Factor H scores tended to be reduced. No reliable differences in JAS subscale scores were observed between four groups of heart patients (i.e. angina pectoris, arterial hypertension, atrial fibrillation and atherosclerosis), although there was a tendency for Factor J to be elevated in atherosclerosis. The findings provide normal values for JAS scores in Danish men and women, and suggest that some facets of coronary‐prone behaviour may be enhanced in Danish high‐risk groups.