Date of Award

1990

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Phillip J. Brantley

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between negative affectivity, a broad band construct of negative emotions, and coronary heart disease. It was hypothesized the relation had been obscured in previous research by the tendency of some subjects to underreport negative affects. To test this hypothesis, 78 male cardiac patients between to ages of 37 and 65, who had undergone cardiac arteriography procedures within the previous 6 months, were given the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale Short Form (TMAS-S; Bendig, 1956) and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale Form C (MCSD-C; Reynolds, 1982). In a series of multiple regression analyses, TMAS-S and MCSD-C scores did not account for a significant degree of variance in degree of cardiac stenosis. Multiple regression of factors of age, family history of heart disease, smoking, and diagnosis of hypertension or diabetes also failed to account for a significant amount of the variance in degree of stenosis, and the addition of TMAS-S and MCSD-C scores did not improve the amount of variance accounted for. In contrast, while TMAS-S scores alone were not related to extent of self-report of pain, the multiple regression of TMAS-S and MCSD-C scores accounted for a significant degree of variance in self-reports of pain, with the interaction of TMAS-S and MCSD-C scores accounting for the greatest amount of variance. The previously noted demographic and medical factors did not significantly account for variance in self-report of pain. The potential biases in this type of cross-sectional study and their possible impact on the outcome were discussed.

Pages

125

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.5012

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