Stress and Type A Behavior in Children

Abstract

This paper examines developmental aspects of type A behavior and physiological stress responses in children. It is shown that adrenal medullary activity sensitively reflects the impact of various stressful conditions in children, and that antecedents of type A behavior (aggressiveness, impatience, competitiveness) can be found at an early age. As with adults, type A-like behaviors in children seem to correlate with sympathetic reactivity to “challenge.” Higher type A scores and higher catecholamine levels were found in boys than in girls. As elevated blood pressure and catecholamine reactivity are assumed to predispose to coronary heart disease (CHD), individual differences in sympathetic reactivity from early childhood may be of relevance for susceptibility to CHD in adulthood.