Electrocardiographic effects of social stress on coronary-prone (type A) individuals.
Subjects selected for possession of either the Type A (coronary-prone) or Type B (coronary-resistant) behavior pattern interacted with a computer, while appearing to interact with a partner, in a formal competitive game of social strategy. Type A subjects exhibited greater impatience than Type B subjects. Computer analysis of the electrocardiogram revealed that social stimulation elicited larger ventricular electrophysiological responses (ST segment depression, and reduction of T wave and R wave amplitudes) in Type A than in Type B subjects. Such changes are consistent with the assumption of greater cardiac sympathetic activity during the social interactions in the Type A subjects.
D001143:Arousal; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000523:psychology; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010551:Personality; D012931:Social Environment; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*