Component analysis of the Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern in male and female college students

Two studies investigated the psychological dimensions encompassed by the Rosenman Structured Interview (SI) method of assessing Type A (coronary prone) behavior. 164 female undergraduates completed the SI and Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS) for Health Prediction. Factor analysis of the verbal stylistic and answer content components of the SI yielded a 5-factor solution, with 1 factor--Clinical Rating--accounting for most nonerror variance in Type A ratings. The remaining factors were derived from answer content and correlated more substantially with JAS Type A ratings than with SI Type A ratings. In Study 2, 70 male and 74 female college students completed the SI and JAS and a battery of questionnaires that assess trait dimensions implied by the conceptual definition of Type A. For both males and females, SI ratings of Type A could almost be completely predicted by scores on the Clinical Rating factor. For both sexes, content dimensions of the SI related to other measures of Type A and to Type A-consistent traits, whereas the Clinical Rating factor was only modestly associated with such traits. Moreover, sex differences were observed in the trait constellations composing SI and JAS definitions of Type A. Results suggest that a discrepancy exists between conceptual and operational definitions of the Type A pattern. (42 ref)