John H. Howard

Energy cost of treadmill and floor walking at self-selected paces

SummaryOxygen uptake-velocity regression equations were developed for floor and level treadmill walking by having two groups of men, aged 19–29 years (n=20) and 55–66 years (n=22), walk at four self-selected paces, from “rather slowly” to “as fast as possible”. A two-variable quadratric model relating VO2 (ml·kg−1·min−1) to velocity (m·s−1) was adopted for prediction purposes. However, age and fatness significantly (p<0.05) interacted with treadmill walking speed, while age alone significantly interacted with floor speed. In addition, a significant difference was found between the energy cost of floor and treadmill walking. For example at the normal walking speed of 1.33 m·s−1, the energy cost for the treadmill (age 55–66 years) was 10.58 ml·kg−1·min−1 and for the floor, 11.04 ml·kg−1·min−1 (p<0.05). Four quadratic equations are therefore presented, one each for floor and treadmill in each of the two age-groups. The percent variance explained was between 87 and 95% for each of these equations.

Work Patterns Associated with Type A Behavior: A Managerial Population

Managers (236) from 12 different companies were examined for the prevalence of Type A behavior. In addition, a number of work habits and job related variables (work hours per week, travel habits, job satisfaction, job tension factors, salary) were obtained on each respondent. Overall, 61% of the managers were classified as Type As, and between companies the percentage varied between 50 and 76%. Type A behavior was also found to be related to recent company growth rates. On work habits, it was found that that extreme Type A s tend to work more hours per week and travel more days per year. It was also found that the Type A s tend to be less satisfied with their jobs. Using factor analysis, fivejobfactors were isolated and these were entitled Ambiguity, Locked-In, Stagnation, Isolation, and Contentment. Type As were found to be different from Type Bs on the factors Locked-In and Contentment. The Locked-In factor is interpreted as reflecting greater self-confidence among the Type As. The Contentment factor reflected job conditions most likely responsible for eliciting Type A behavior. These included: supervisory responsibility for people, a feeling of competition in work, heavy work loads, and conflicting demands. It was also found that Type As earned higher salaries than Type Bs. The results are combined with those of a previous study on the same group of managers, which measured a number of health variables related to Type A behavior and coronary heart disease. A conceptual model is proposed showing the pathways by which susceptible individuals encounter job conditions which elicit Type A behavior and, consequently, higher coronary risk.

Health patterns associated with type A behavior: a managerial population.

Type A Behavior is a behavioral syndrome found to be related to coronary heart disease and characterized by excessive drive, ambition, and competitiveness. Managers from 12 different companies were examined for this syndrome and for a number of the known risk factors in coronary heart disease (blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid, smoking, and fitness). Those individuals exhibiting extreme Type A Behavior (Type A) showed significantly higher blood pressure (systolic and diastolic) and higher cholesterol and triglyceride levels. A greater percentage of these individuals were cigarette smokers. On serum uric acid there were no differences. In each age group, Type As were less interested in exercise, although differences in cardio-respiratory fitness were found only in the oldest age group. Type A Behavior also was related to age, education, company growth rates, and stress symptoms. Overall, the Type A1s were found to be higher on a number of risk factors known to be associated with coronary heart disease. With regard to the Type A2s (individuals with less developed Type A Behavior), the findings were not conclusive.

Determinants of the training response in elderly men

As part of a prospective randomized trial of the effect of regular exercise in older men, factors determining the magnitude of VO2max increase observed with endurance training were examined in 88 elderly [age 62.9 +/- 3.0 (SD) yr] males. VO2max before and after training was recorded as the highest VO2 observed during two incremental treadmill tests. One year of thrice weekly training sessions increased VO2max (12%, P less than 0.05) in the training group relative to baseline and to a control group (n = 100). The association between the post-training VO2max (VO2max, T2) and the following explanatory variables was assessed using multiple regression analysis: the initial VO2max (VO2max, T1); the reason for stopping the initial treadmill test: leisure time activity during the year previous to the study: the training intensity (speed of walking or running, pulse rate during training, and percentage of heart rate reserve); pulmonary function (forced expiratory volume in 1 s); adiposity (skinfold thickness at 8 sites) and frequency of training. VO2max T1, speed of walking or running during training, reason for stopping the treadmill test, and skinfold thickness were significantly related to post-training VO2max. The intensity and frequency of the training stimulus explained over 10% of the variance in the training effect. Subjects whose test was halted because of fatigue increased VO2max more than those whose test was discontinued for medical or other reasons, even when speed of running was held constant. Previous activity had only a weak effect on training response. The total variance explained by these independent variables was 62%.

Personality (Hardiness) as a Moderator of Job Stress and Coronary Risk in Type A Individuals: A Longitudinal Study

This research study uses longitudinal data to determine if Type A individuals, initially classified as “hardy,” show differential cardiovascular and biochemical responses in the encounter with a common job stressor. Role ambiguity was utilized as a job stressor and “hardiness” was defined using the second-order factor dependence/independence from the 16-personality factor (16PF) questionnaire. The results indicated that those individuals classified as Type A1 showed blood pressure and triglyceride elevations with increased ambiguity and that dependence/independence (hardiness) moderated this effect. When all Type As (A1 +A2) were included in the analysis similar results were found only on systolic blood pressure. The results appear consistent with earlier findings concerning the cardiovascular reactivity of Type As. In addition, it is suggested that dependence/independence is either a major component of the concept of “hardiness” or may be a dimension of personality which distinguishes two classes of Type A behavior. It is suggested that these results may raise the interesting possibility of providing a means of identifying greater or lesser susceptibility to the coronary effects of Type A behavior.

Adapting to Retirement

The scenario of an individual dying shortly after retirement is as familiar as that of a retired gentleman playing golf, wintering in the South, and pursuing an active and satisfying retirement life. Such sketches, with numerous variations in between, represent opposites in the process of adapting to retirement. With shifting demographics** and with occupational retirement now a generally accepted and expected part of Western life, an understanding of what accounts for such differences takes on greater importance. Retirement itself is a relatively recent phenomenon, characteristic of amuent industrial and postindustrial societies. In many other cultures, and in our own culture of 100 years ago, man did not worry about adapting to retirement, for retirement was virtually nonexistent. Work was a part of life until illness or death prevented it. Now, however, we have compulsory age-based retirement in many occupational sectors (supported by social security schemes) and the tradition of retiring from work around the age of 65 in most other sectors. At the same time, life spans are lengthening. The implication is that men who retire at about 65 have a life expectancy of roughly 14 to 15 years in retirement, and women have an even longer life expectancy. Researchers have investigated the process of retirement, finding interdependence between a large number of variables related to the adjustment that persons have to make. It is the purpose of this paper to review and discuss current thinking about the process of adapting to retirement. Although it is recognized that organizations and society at large both have to deal with the phenomena of retirement, this paper will limit its focus to the person’s adaptation, and will serve to provide a framework for directions for fruitful future research and policy formulation.

Type A behavior, personality, and sympathetic response

This study examined, under two types of stress and during a typical workday, the moderating effects of the personality trait dependence/independence on the hemodynamic and catecholaminergic response in Type A individuals. During the mental stressor, Type As with strong dependency needs showed elevated heart rates and higher levels of epinephrine. During the physical stressor, they showed elevated heart rates and higher levels of norepinephrine. During the typical workday, both urinary catecholamines and mean daily heart rates were higher. It is suggested that these findings, which indicate greater sympathetic-adrenal response, are the result of a basic personality/behavior inconsistency and that Type A behavior may have an accentuated relationship to coronary disease when overlaid on a personality for which it is inconsistent.

Identification of a coronary-prone profile for business managers: comparison of three approaches to Type A assessment.

This study compares three approaches to Type A assessment for identifying a coronary-prone profile for business managers. The Survey of Work Styles (SWS), a profile measure of the Type A behavior pattern, was compared with the Structured Interview (SI), a categorical measure, and with the Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS) and Framingham Type A Scale, both continuous measures. The blood pressure, heart rate, and cardiac effort of 163 middle-aged male business managers (107 of whom were classified as Type A by the SI) were assessed during the SI. Neither the classification by the SI of the subjects into Type A and non-Type A groups nor Type A1, A2, X, B3, and B4 revealed differences in physiological arousal. Similarly, no relationship was found between physiological variables and Type A behavior that was assessed on a continuum by the JAS or Framingham Type A Scale. When business managers were classified by the SWS according to their pattern of Type A components, however, the results showed that men high on Anger but low on Competitiveness and Job Dissatisfaction had significantly higher levels of systolic blood pressure during the SI. The importance of recognizing individual differences in the expression of Type A behavior when assessing coronary-prone physiological reactivity is discussed.

Validation of the survey of work styles: A profile measure of the type A behaviour pattern

The present study compares the Type A classification accuracy of the Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS), The Framingham Type A Scale, and a new Type A behaviour pattern (TABP) measure. The Survey of Work Styles (SWS), a self-report measure of the TABP, was developed using a construct approach to scale construction. It consists of six content scales. Impatience, Anger, Work Involvement, Time Urgency, Job Dissatisfaction and Competitiveness. In addition to the six content scales, a seventh scale, Scale A, is comprised of items empirically selected to relate to the Rosenman Structured Interview. In the present study the SWS was found to be significantly related to both the JAS, and the Framingham Type A Scale in a sample of 163 business managers. Median reliability of the SWS subscales was 0.82, and for the total scale 0.90. Discriminant function analysis using cross validational jackknifing procedures resulted in a classification accuracy of 83% of the Type A managers in relation to the Structured Interview. Classification using the SWS was found to correlate significantly higher with the Structured Interview than did either classification with the JAS or with the Framingham Type A Scale. Modal profile analysis yielded three independent bipolar typal dimensions, indicating that a single dimension or classification of the TABP represents an oversimplification of a complex behaviour pattern. These results support the reconceptualization of the TABP in terms of distinct facets and profile patterns.

The effects of personal interaction on triglyceride and uric acid levels, and coronary risk in a managerial population: a longitudinal study.

This two year longitudinal study of managers investigated whether the level of interaction with other individuals was a job stressor that influences coronary risk factors. The results presented here show that increased levels of interaction were associated with increased serum triglyceride and increased serum uric acid levels. It is suggested that past research positing stress effects from responsibility for people may be due to interaction levels rather than responsibility per se. It was also found that Type A behavior and physical activity levels moderated these effects. While it is difficult to say that personal interaction, as a job stressor, contributes very significantly to either coronary risk factors or coronary heart disease the evidence supports the hypothesis that the amount of interaction has some specific stress effects.