Causal attributions for heart disease: A systematic review

The aims of this systematic literature review are to describe the pattern o f attributions made for the causes of heart disease, and to determine how t his pattern varies with the method by which attributions are elicited, and the respondent group. A search yielded 47 papers and reports, containing 54 datasets. Lifestyle f actors and chronic stress were the most common causes cited across all data sets. Attributions to stressors and fate or luck were more likely to be rep orted in studies that used interval raring scales than in studies that used dichotomous ratings. Cardiac patients were more likely to mention stressor s and fate or luck as causes of heart disease; non-patients rated being ove rweight and hypertensive as more important. The differences observed between the responses of patients and non-patients may be due to actor - observer differences, or to a methodological differe nce: patients are often asked to report their own experiences whereas non-p atients are asked about the general case.