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Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
Older White Men Who Cope with Stress Rewarded with
Higher Good Cholesterol
Same research finds no direct effect on 'bad'
cholesterol’
Aug. 20, 2007 - Older white men who are better able
to cope with stress experience higher levels of so-called “good
cholesterol” than men who are more hostile or socially isolated,
according to a study released at the 115th Annual Convention of the
American Psychological Association.
But that same coping ability had no effect on the
subjects’ “bad cholesterol” levels, the research found.
The study gathered data from 716 men who
participated in the Normative Aging Study to look at the complex
interrelations among hostility, stress and coping processes and
cholesterol levels.
The average age in the sample was 65. Most of the
men were white and were evenly split between white-collar and
blue-collar occupations.
The subjects were given a questionnaire that asked
them to rate how often they used 26 coping strategies.
● Individuals high in hostility were more likely
to perceive problems as stressful and react with negative behavior,
self-blame and social isolation.
● Men who were better able to cope could make a
plan of action and pursue it, for example.
Following an overnight fast, the subjects’ blood
was tested for high-density lipoproteins (good cholesterol), low-density
lipoproteins (bad cholesterol) and triglycerides.
The authors had theorized that hostility would have
an effect on all three lipoproteins, but what they found was a direct
effect on HDL and triglycerides, but not on LDL.
“It is interesting that the coping variables were
most strongly associated with this protective factor,” they wrote.
“The results of our study suggest that coping
processes also might influence lipid fractions differently and may play
a protective role through their influence on HDL.”
Loriena A. Yancura, PhD, the lead researcher, from
the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, said she and her colleagues were
surprised that there were no associations between coping and the LDL
levels.
“One possible reason might be that measures of
hostility, coping and lipids were taken at one point in time,” she said.
“In other words, we asked people about their coping
strategies in response to a problem in the past month and looked at a
blood sample taken at the time we asked them. It is possible that
changes in LDL might have been apparent in a lab setting or if we had
looked at longitudinal relationships among hostility, coping and
lipids.”
Another caveat they noted was that the sample was
limited and it is likely that there are age, gender or ethnic
differences in the relationship between coping mechanisms and
lipoproteins.
Editor’s Notes:
Source Presentation: “Does Coping Mediate Between
Hostility and Lipid Levels" Findings from the Normative Aging Study,”
Loriena A. Yancura, PhD, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Carolyn M.
Aldwin, PhD, Oregon State University, Avron Spiro III, PhD, VA Boston
Healthcare System, and Michael R. Levenson, PhD, Oregon State
University.
The American Psychological Association (APA), in
Washington, DC, is the largest scientific and professional organization
representing psychology in the United States and is the world’s largest
association of psychologists. APA’s membership includes more than
148,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students.
Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations
with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA
works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means
of promoting health, education and human welfare.
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