Gender differences in the relation between interview-derived hostility scores and resting blood pressure.

We examined the correlations between Structured Interview (SI)-derived hostility scores and resting blood pressure (BP) to see if they would be the same or different for healthy men and women. Standard risk factor information and resting BP measures were obtained from 193 undergraduates (109 men, 84 women), who underwent the SI. Subjects were rated for Potential for Hostility, Hostile Style, Intensity and Content, and completed Antagonism and Neuroticism scales. As expected, SI hostility scores were related to higher resting SBP in men, however; in women, they were related to lower resting SBP and Neuroticism. Regression analyses controlling for standard CHD risk factors indicated that SI-derived hostility predicted resting SBP and hypertensive status in both men and women, though in opposite directions. Thus, SI-derived hostility may assess a different construct in women than in men.