DESIGN NARRATIVE:

Unique data sets of social, psychological, and behavioral measures were collected at the third examination of the Offspring Study from 1984 through 1987 (which results in 14 to 17 years of follow-up). Hypotheses for this research are focused toward understanding the sex and age differences in the effects these variables have on health endpoints. The research questions involve the prediction of three separate endpoints: incidence of coronary heart disease; the incidence and prognosis of atrial fibrillation; and total mortality. The analyses of psychosocial predictors for these outcomes are divided into four conceptual areas: 1) occupational status and strain, income, and employment status; 2) type A behavior, expressions of anger, hostility, and rate; 3) symptoms of depression, tension, anxiety, and feelings of aloneness; and 4) marital relationships and marital strain. These psychosocial variables will be analyzed jointly with the physiological risk factors collected at the same time to assess independence and interaction of effects. To date these psychosocial data have not been analyzed or published.