Abstracts

(Vol. 16)

1. Miles, Henry H. W.; Waldfogel, Samuel; Barrabee, Edna L. and Cobb, Stanley. Psychosomatic Study of 46 Young Men with Coronary Artery Disease.

Psychiatric interviews, a detailed social inventory, and a battery of psychological tests were carried out upon a group of 46 young men with coronary artery disease and upon 49 healthy control subjects. All these men had already been studied carefully and data concerning medical history, anthropological measurements, and blood chemistry were available. After consolidating the information gathered by various means, the two groups were compared in terms of personality factors and also in other ways, including family incidence of cardiovascular disease, history of stress and strain, somatotype, and blood lipid levels.

The coronary patients had tended to work harder, under more stress and strain, although this was not necessarily physically strenuous work. Only a few more of the coronary patients than controls showed a consistent tendency toward compulsive striving, ascetic self-discipline, and great need to “get to the top” in their chosen work. When the two groups were compared in terms of specific personality traits, the differences were very slight. The coronary group showed less tendency to introspection than did the controls and more difficulty in handling their aggressive tendencies. The similarities between the groups were more striking, however, than were the differences, and our findings, in the main, did not confirm previous observations.

No convincing evidence was found that the personality differences exhibited by the coronary patients, as compared to the control subjects, could be implicated as significant factors in the genesis of coronary artery atherosclerosis. The effect of personality factors and emotional conflicts upon individuals with already diseased coronary arteries is important, but was not the primary topic of investigation and was not discussed in detail.

The data suggested