Dimensions of Anger and Hostility in Cardiac Patients, Hypertensive Patients, and Controls

Anger and hostility have long been considered important factors in the etiology of essential hypertension (EH) and coronary heart disease (CHD). This case-control study investigates the association of hostility, as measured by the Cook and Medley Hostility Scale (HO), and anger, as measured by the Multidimensional Anger Inventory (MAI), with CHD and EH in 80 CHD patients, 80 EH patients, and a control group of 80 healthy adults from Italy. Cases revealed significantly higher scores than controls in two subsets of HO and in two subscales of MAI. Some of these subscales appeared to be age-dependent. The results indicate that particular components of anger-hostility could be taken into consideration when studying psychological risk factors for CHD and EH.