Anger temperament is modestly associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus: the Atheroslcerosis Risk in Communities Study.
OBJECTIVE
Trait anger has been shown to predict coronary heart disease; however, there are no prior studies evaluating anger as a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. The objective of this study was to determine if anger proneness predicted type 2 diabetes using prospective analyses.


METHODS
We analyzed data on trait anger, assessed by questionnaire, in a longitudinal, bi-racial cohort study of 11,615 initially non-diabetic adults aged 48-67, who were subsequently followed for 6 years for the development of type 2 diabetes.


RESULTS
There was no relation between overall trait anger and the subsequent risk of diabetes; however, individuals in the highest tertile of trait anger temperament scores had a 34% increased risk of developing diabetes compared to those in the lowest tertile (Relative hazard [RH] = 1.34; 95% confidence interval: 1.10, 1.62), following adjustment for age, race, gender, and education. The relation between anger temperament and diabetes remained significant following adjustment for behavioral factors (smoking, physical activity, and caloric intake) (RH = 1.31; 95% CI: 1.08, 1.60) but was non-significant after additional adjustment for waist-to-hip ratio and body-mass index (RH = 1.18; 95% CI: 0.97, 1.44).


CONCLUSIONS
While we found no relation between overall trait anger and incident diabetes, persons who had higher anger temperament subscale scores had a slightly increased risk of type 2 diabetes, which was largely explained by adiposity. Anger temperament may deserve further attention as a potential risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
Golden
Sherita Hill
SH
Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. sahill@jhmi.edu
Williams
Janice E
JE
Ford
Daniel E
DE
Yeh
Hsin-Chieh
HC
Sanford
Catherine Paton
CP
Nieto
F Javier
FJ
Brancati
Frederick L
FL
D000368:Aged; D000786:Anger; D000886:Anthropometry; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology