Coronary heart disease risk scales and reactivity in a prevention program assessment: failure to show positive relationships.

This study was designed to evaluate relationships among the Jenkins Activity Survey, the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale, and cardiovascular reactivity measured during a semistructured interview in a hospital setting. Subjects were 201 business persons participating in a cardiovascular risk assessment interview component of a fitness program. Correlation analysis showed little evidence of significant positive relationships between self-report scores and reactivity in the total sample and among subjects with high resting blood pressures. Graphic analysis of total sample bivariate distributions, however, demonstrated patterns suggestive of nonlinear relationships. Evaluation of scatterplots and residual plots in conjunction with nonlinear and weighted least squares regression analyses nonetheless failed to reveal significant nonlinear relationships. The authors discuss implications of these findings.