Negative interaction and heart disease in late life: exploring variations by socioeconomic status.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to see whether negative interaction is associated with an increased risk of having heart disease. In the process, an effort was made to see if older people in lower socioeconomic status (SES) groups were more vulnerable to the potentially deleterious effects of interpersonal conflict than upper SES elders.


METHODS
Interviews were conducted with a nationwide sample of older adults at three points in time. Survey items were administered to assess exposure to negative interaction, SES, and whether study participants had heart disease.


RESULTS
The findings reveal that negative interaction is associated with an increased risk of heart disease for lower SES elders only. Moreover, the data suggest that the pernicious effects of negative interaction on heart disease take between 2 and 4 years to become manifest.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings underscore the role played by interpersonal relationships in the etiology of heart disease.
Krause
Neal
N
Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1420 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, USA. nkrause@umich.edu
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States