Scherwitz, L., Graham, L. E., &Ornish, D. (1985). Self-involvement and the risk factors for coronary heart disease. Advances, 2(2), 6-18.

Describes studies showing that excessive involvement in one’s self increases one’s risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). A preliminary study found a connection among self-involvement (SI), Type A (coronary prone) behavior, anger intensity, and high blood pressure. Later studies showed that self-involved patients were more likely to have recurrent heart attacks and poorer heart muscle contraction, could not exercise as long on a treadmill, and were more depressed and anxious. The link between SI and coronary artery disease was strongest in those patients who had suffered neither a heart attack nor heart disease-related chest pain, suggesting that SI preceded heart disease. Results support a model in which SI provides a substrate for all the psychosocial risk factors of CHD. This approach proposes self-concept as a central coordinator of emotions, behaviors, and physiological responses.

 

 

Scherwitz, L., Graham, L. E., & Ornish, D. (1985). Self-involvement and the risk factors for coronary heart disease. Advances, 2(2), 6-18.