Are you a Type A?

Having a "Type A personality" is marked in popular literature and media by a person who is an overachiever and fills his or her schedule to the maximum with work and status related activities and commitments.  Popular notions of Type A personality are based on published scientific research undertaken by cardiologists, Meyer Friedman and RH Rosenman, while researching the possible causes of coronary disease. http://www.sfms.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&SECTION=Article_Archives&CONTENTID=1732&TEMPLATE=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm

In the 1950’s, Friedman and Rosenman studied over 3,000 healthy men aged 35 – 59 and observed a higher prevalence of clinical Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) in men who exhibited two specific traits: time urgency and free floating hostility.  They labeled this disorder Type A behavior pattern. Subsequent studies challenged the hostility factor; ongoing research continues to help us understand the relationship between Type A Behavior and Coronary Heart Disease in both men and women.  In 1981, The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute published a critical review that identified Type A Behavior as an independent risk factor for CHD.

Current research is helping to identify issues and difficulties in measuring Type A traits in the individual. Researchers have concluded that time urgency and hostility measures, usually completed by the patient through a self report questionnaire are not as reliable as the clinician's observation and evaluation of the person’s psychomotor traits. Recognizing these psychomotor traits in an individual takes specific training over the course of several months to years.

Some of the signs and symptoms that may indicate hostility or time urgency and a Type A Behavior pattern include: chronic facial tension, tic like elevation of the eyebrows, tense posture and abrupt, jerky movements, rapid speech, hastening the speech of others, frequent loss of temper (i.e., yells or gets upset while driving), sleeplessness because of anger or frustration, disbelief in altruism, easily provoked irritability over trivial errors, facial hostility, and a hostile laugh.

Health psychologists treat individuals who exhibit these characteristics and through lifestyle change interventions, including behavior modification, cognitive – behavioral interventions, stress management and mindfulness training, and talk therapy, help the person with Type A Behavior patterns to modify his or her unhealthy patterns of time urgency and unresolved hostility. Research has already established that the degree of lifestyle change is positively correlated with positive changes in coronary atherosclerosis and other CHD predictors.  If you want to read more detailed and clinical literature on these studies, the Preventive Medicine Research Institute is an excellent resource:  http://www.pmri.org/research.html.  If you recognize yourself or a loved one as possibly fitting the description for Type A Behavior patterns, learn more and ask for help. Become heart healthy and feel better.