Psychological and behavioral benefits of a stress/type A behavior reduction program for healthy middle-aged army officers.

Twenty army officers who participated in a stress/type A behavior reduction program and a comparison group of 17 officer nonparticipants volunteered to undergo a battery of psychological and behavioral tests before and after the program. Following the program, participants displayed a significantly greater reduction in average daily caloric intake and levels of perceived stress, anxiety, hostility, depression, psychological distress, and type A behavior as compared to the officers who did not participate in it. Given the fact that most of these psychological and behavioral factors have been found in previous studies to be related to an increased risk for coronary artery disease, it seems that the changes reported by the participants in the program are potentially healthful.