ROLE OF HOSTILITY IN WOMENS HEALTH DURING MIDLIFE - A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY

Relationships between hostility at ages 21, 27, 43, and 52 years old a nd general health at age 52 were investigated in a longitudinal sample of educated midlife women. Hostility was assessed at ages 21 and 27 u sing the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale (HO), and at all four test sessio ns using a California Psychological Inventory (CPI) derived hostility scale consisting of 33 CPI items that were either duplicates or close equivalents of HO items, Hostility at each age was negatively correlat ed with general health at age 52. Further analyses revealed that hosti lity at each age remained a significant health predictor at age 52 whe n possible mediator variables at age 43 (cigarette smoking, excessive alcohol intake, body mass index, negative life events, and social role satisfactions) were controlled.