Personality Patterns in Young Males with Coronary Disease

Abstract

Results of psychological tests and brief interviews on 25 young males hospitalized for recent myocardial infarction were compared with similar data on 25 males awaiting serious surgery. These data were also available on 25 males hospitalized for benign skin disorders. Both presurgery and postcoronary patients reflect in psychological tests special anxiety regarding imminent death and physical incapacity, coronary patients significantly more so than presurgery patients. In addition, coronary patients reveal a pattern of personality characteristics, including chronic restlessness, underlying passivity, and suppressed hostility, which may have bearing on the propensity for coronary disease.