TYPE-A BEHAVIOR PATTERN AND CHANGE IN BLOOD-PRESSURE FROM CHILDHOOD TO ADOLESCENCE - THE MINNEAPOLIS CHILDRENS BLOOD-PRESSURE STUDY

The association of the Type A behavior pattern with change in blood pr essure was examined in a multiethnic sample of schoolchildren. Blood p ressure was assessed in 1978 (mean age = 8 years) and approximately bi annually thereafter through 1987-1990, when a post-high school screeni ng was completed, The Matthews Youth Test for Health (MYTH) was comple ted by the teachers of a sample of participants in 1982 (n = 502). The Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS) was completed by all adolescents who pa rticipated in the post-high school screening (n = 816), Males were mor e likely to be classified as Type A than were females by the JAS and t he MYTH, Type A status was not associated cross-sectionally with eleva ted blood pressure. JAS-assessed Type B males had significantly higher mean post-high school fourth- and fifth-phase diastolic blood pressur es than did Type A males (70.2 mmHg vs, 68.2 mmHg, p < 0.05; 68.1 mmHg vs, 65.2 mmHg, p < 0.01), JAS-assessed Type A/B status was not associ ated with 10-year change in blood pressure. MYTH-determined Type B fem ales tended to have higher diastolic blood pressures than MYTH-determi ned Type A females throughout the 10-year study period, Results from t his study did not confirm the hypothesis that Type A participants woul d have significantly higher blood pressures than Type B participants a t the time of Type A assessment; nor did they confirm the hypothesis t hat Type A participants would exhibit greater increases in blood press ure than Type B participants over a 10-year period.