J.J. Ray
University of N.S.W., Australia
Abstract
Although the various measures of "A-B" have now been shown to be seriously problematical and as generally not predicting coronary heart disease (CHD) this matters little as there are a large number of scales measuring other constructs which do predict CHD. Future research should therefore abandon the failed "A-B" concept and investigate more fully the alternative measures.
JAS or SI or neither?
Yarnold & Bryant (1988) are just one example of many authors who have recently commented on the now widely acknowledged failure (See e.g. Appels, Mulder & Van Houtem, 1985; Emara, El-Islam, Abu Dagga & Moussa, 1986; Ray, 1986; Jenkins, Rosenman & Zyzanski, 1974; Katz & Toben, 1986; Lelouch & Kornitzer, 1982; Linden, 1987; Matthews, 1982; Myrtek & Greenlee, 1984; Nanjundappa, Friis & Taladrid, 1987; Rosenman, 1978; Ruberman, Weinblatt, Goldberg & Chandbury, 1984; Shekelle, Hulley, Neaton et al, 1985; Young, Barboriak, Hoffman & Anderson, 1984) of the Jenkins Activity Survey or "JAS" (Jenkins, Zyzanski & Rosenman, 1979) to predict coronary heart disease (CHD) but who still, for all that, seem unable to let go of the "A-B" concept that the JAS claims to measure. Eysenck (1990) has a slightly different approach. He still uses "A-B" terminology to denote coronary-prone and non-coronary-prone personalities but gives a description of what those personalities are that is more in accord with the evidence than is the description offered by the Jenkins group.
The JAS is not, of course the only measure of "A-B" in the sense intended by the Jenkins group. The other main measure of "A-B" is the structured interview (or "SI"). The SI appears in some studies to have some correlation with CHD incidence but, as Yarnold & Bryant rightly point out, has other problems: notably difficulty of training raters, subjectivity of scoring and poor score reliability in various senses of that term. Yarnold & Bryant are particularly persuasive in noting that the SI can reasonably be administered only once to each subject because subjects tend to "wise up" after the first administration. This means that the reliability of the measure in what is arguably the most important sense of that term is in principle unknowable. From a psychometrician's point of view, therefore, it would be hard to imagine a worse measure of anything. Additionally, in view of its weak relationship with the JAS, the small predictive success of the SI could even be due its measuring things outside the "A-B" concept. In the circumstances, Yarnold & Bryant urge us not to "throw out the baby with the bathwater" and urge us to continue using the JAS but with extra precautions. It is my submission that there is no baby in the bathwater but that there are lots of interesting babies elsewhere.
The other "babies"
The measures that Yarnold & Bryant suggest to enable continued use of the JAS (such as using only extreme scores) are very limiting and, as such, have something of an air of the counsel of despair. Their comment that we need to develop better alternative measures to the JAS is also somewhat strange. The crucial fact that Yarnold & Bryant and many others seem oblivious of is that there are already many self- report personality scales in the literature which do predict CHD. The JAS is in fact unusual in not predicting CHD. This can perhaps most clearly be seen in Krug & Sherman (1977) -- who show that in two large studies ten out of the 16 scales in the 16PF differentiated CHD sufferers from non-sufferers. There is, therefore, no reason at all to persevere with any form of the failed "A-B" concept. As reviews of the literature made plain as long ago as 1982 (e.g. Diamond, 1982) various measures of aggression or hostility in particular are good predictors of CHD. Being aggressive or hostile takes its toll on the body in various ways and CHD is one of those ways. It may therefore be useful here to mention at least a small sample of the more recent findings to this effect. A brief look at predictive scales outside the aggression/hostility area will also be attempted.
Scales of aggression and hostility
Katz & Toben (1986) found that the JAS did not predict CHD symptomatology but the Novacco (1975) Anger scale did.
Eysenck (1990) reported a large prospective study in which it was found that an apparently unpublished scale of anger and excitement predicted a variety of adverse cardiac events.
Ray (1984b & 1986) found that the Ray (1976) Directiveness scale (measuring aggressive dominance) was the strongest of several predictors of CHD and that partialling out Directiveness from the small correlation between the JAS and CHD reduced that correlation to non-significance. Ray (1984b) used a simplified scoring system to get A-B score but Ray (1984a) showed that this scoring system and the standard scoring system give results that are essentially identical.
Smith, Follick & Korr, 1984) found that the frequency of anginal pains was predicted only by trait anger.
Rime & Bonami (1979) used mainly scales constructed by themselves for the occasion and reported five different personality predictors of CHD including their own scales measuring self-assertiveness and ego-defensiveness.
Van Dijl (1982) lists a 9-item scale of aggressiveness/ hostility which was found on several occasions to predict CHD.
Scales of other constructs: Eysenck's variables
Eysenck's two major personality variables (neuroticism and introversion. See e.g. Eysenck & Eysenck, 1969) have been implicated with CHD in a number of studies. Lelouch & Kornitzer (1982) found anomalous results with the Bortner (1969) scale of A-B but also found that the Eysenck N scale was the best predictor of CHD. More anxious persons suffered more CHD.
Drummond (1982) found that introversion predicted CHD symptomatology.
Siltanen, Lauroma, Nirrko, Punsar, Pyorala, Tuominen & Vanhala (1975) reported a study done in Finland wherein the scales used were especially constructed in Finnish. Their two best predictors of CHD, however, were "inhibition" followed by Neuroticism. If we identify "inhibition" with "introversion", we again have an indication of the relevance of Eysenck's variables.
Eysenck himself (Eysenck, 1990) has also discussed the relationship between adverse cardiac events and extraversion/neuroticism.
Freneticism
Although most of the content of the JAS can be traced to familiar personality variables such as dominance and achievement motivation (Ray & Bozek, 1980; Hansson, Hogan, Johnson & Schroeder, 1983), there is a small residue of reasonably unique items which load on what Jenkins, Zyzanski & Rosenman (1979) call the "Speed and Impatience" or SI factor. It is, in fact, this aspect of "A-B" that seems to be most stressed in discussions of what constitutes "A-B". Regrettably, even the JAS test manual (Jenkins et al, 1979) shows that this factor does not predict CHD. There is, however, another measure of SI which was in fact partly derived from the JAS. This scale (the Ray & Bozek, 1980, Freneticism scale) does predict CHD (Ray, 1986) when appropriate controls are applied. This tends to suggest that the Jenkins and Rosenman group had better clinical insights than scale -constructing skills. Their theory was partly right even if their measuring instruments were inadequate.
Conclusion
It is hoped that sufficient has been said to indicate that there are far more promising lines of enquiry to follow in investigating the personality correlates of CHD than anything offered by the various measures of A-B. Other readings that would give extra context to what has been said here are: Linden (1987); Dembroski, MacDougal, Herd & Shields (1979); Haynes & Matthews (1988); Wright (1985) and Booth- Kewley & Friedman (1987).
REFERENCES
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FINIS
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