Cardiovascular Responsivity, Type A Behavior, and Parental History of Heart Disease in Young Women

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine the physiological responsiveness of Type A and Type B women during interpersonal and individual, competitive stressors. Extreme groups of Types A and B college‐age women were monitored on heart rate and blood pressure while they engaged in an oral history quiz and the Stroop color/word test. Subjects were also subdivided by presence or absence of family history of coronary heart disease. Types A and B women did not differ on blood pressure levels or reactivity; Type A women did show a trend toward a greater increase in heart rate to the color/word task. Women with a positive family history had higher levels of systolic and a trend toward higher levels of diastolic blood pressure. There were no significant interactions of Type A/B with family history. Our conclusion is that Type A behavior is only very weakly, if at all, associated with physiological responsivity in young adult women.