Cortisol excretion in high and low cynically hostile men.

Abstract

Cynical hostility as measured by the Cook and Medley Hostility (Ho) Scale has been found in some studies to be associated with increased risk of life-threatening illness. Previous laboratory studies of cardiovascular reactivity have been consistent with the general hypothesis that increased physiological responsiveness is one possible mechanism underlying the association between hostility and health. The present study extended this previous research by evaluating urinary cortisol excretion during routine daily activities in a sample of high and low cynically hostile young men. Although high and low Ho groups did not differ in their cortisol excretion upon awakening, the high Ho group displayed more than twice the increase in cortisol excretion during daytime hours as that occurring among low hostile men. This difference dissipated during the evening hours. Results are discussed in terms of possible physiological mechanisms linking hostility and health.

Personality and metabolic syndrome

“…Goldbacher and Matthews (2007) argued that the path from psychological characteristics, such as anger and hostility, to the metabolic syndrome may be mediated by both behavioral factors, such as diet and smoking, and by biological factors, such as dysregulation of the sympathetic-adrenal-medullary and hypothalamicpituitary-adrenal axes. Indeed, during daily activities, angry and hostile individuals have heightened cardiovascular and neuroendocrine reactivity, such as increased blood pressure (Polk et al 2002) and cortisol excretion (Pope and Smith 1991), and, once stressed, they are not easily soothed by close others (Lepore 1995). Even as early as adolescence, trait anger and hostility are associated with greater central adiposity and arterial stiffness (Midei and Matthews 2009).…”

Impact of Psychological Factors on the Pathogenesis of Cardiovascular Disease and Implications for Therapy

“…For example, compared with nonhostile individuals, hostile subjects manifest higher heart rate and blood pressure responses to physiological stimuli, such as mental tasks, 89 as well as higher ambulatory blood pressure levels during daily-life activity. 90 Also, evidence suggests that hostile individuals are more likely to exhibit hypercortisolemia and high levels of circulating catecholamines, 91,92 as well as diminished mononuclear leukocyte ␤-adrenergic receptor function. 93 Preliminary data suggest that hostile individuals may also manifest diminished vagal modulation of heart function 94,95 and increased platelet reactivity.…”

Antagonistic characteristics are positively associated with inflammatory markers independently of trait negative emotionality

“…In this regard, it is widely suggested that antagonistic dispositions are associated with activation of multiple physiological pathways that influence immune function. For example, when compared with less antagonistic individuals, hostile and angry individuals show greater activation of the sympathetic nervous system in response to acute mental challenge (e.g., al 'Absi and Bongard, 2006;Suls and Wan, 1993), diminished parasympathetic control over cardiac function (Sloan et al, 1994), and higher circulating concentrations of catecholamines (Suarez et al, 1998) and cortisol (Pope and Smith, 1991). Furthermore, individual differences in the balance of activation of the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system and in the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis have been associated with modulation of the production of proinflammatory cytokines (Marsland et al, 2007;Suarez et al, 1998), of levels of systemic inflammation (Elenkov and Chrousos, 2002;Miller et al, 2002;Sondergaard et al, 2000), and of susceptibility to health problems associated with inflammatory processes (Chrousos, 1995;Gianaros et al, 2005).…”