ASSOCIATION BETWEEN CARDIAC AUTONOMIC FUNCTION AND COPING STYLE IN HEALTHY-SUBJECTS

The link between personality and cardiac function is insufficiently ch aracterized. We postulated that in a healthy population, cardiac auton omic function is linked to coping style. In 276 healthy volunteers, be tween the ages of 18 and 71, the Utrecht Coping List was used to evalu ate different coping strategies. Trait anxiety was scored by the Spiel berger State Trait Anxiety inventory A 24-hour Holter recording was us ed to calculate heart rare variability (HRV). For HRV parameters and c oping mechanisms this study demonstrated gender-specific differences a nd correlations with age. In men (n = 141) higher active coping was as sociated with less global autonomic activity or SDANN (r(s) = -0.27, P < 0.001). This relationship was most prevalent in young (18-30 years) men (r(s) = -0.45, P < 0.005). Higher expression of negative emotions or anger was related to both higher vagal (r(s) = 0.23 for rMSSD, P < 0.01) tone and higher LF power (r(s) = 0.23, P < 0.02). In young men expression of negative emotions or anger was associated with LF power (r(s) = 0.37, P < 0.02) and in middle-aged (31-50 years) men with vaga l tone (r(s) = 0.43 for rMSSD, P < 0.005) and heart rate (r(s) = -0.42 , p < 0.005). Higher comforting ideas was related to higher LF power ( r(s) = 0.23 for LF power, P < 0.005), and this especially in middle-ag ed men (r(s) = 0.37, P < 0.01). In women (n = 135), no significant cor relations between coping style and HRV indices were found. We conclude that in normal individuals, at least in men, our findings suggest a r elationship between coping style and cardiac autonomic function.