Neuroendocrine and behavioral mechanisms mediating the relationship between anger expression and cardiovascular risk: Assessment considerations and improvements

Mustafa N al'Absi, Stephan Bongard

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

30 Scopus citations

Abstract

The hypothesis that intense anger experience may increase risk for or exacerbate cardiovascular diseases has been under active theoretical and empirical interest for decades. Biopsychological models of disease suggest that persons displaying exaggerated physiological responses to acute emotional or stressful states are at a greater risk to develop cardiovascular disorders. The last two decades have witnessed active work to refine means by which anger expression can be assessed, and laboratory research has produced evidence suggesting that certain expression styles may predict enhanced physiological responses to acute stress. In this paper, we review methodological and definition issues related to the assessment of anger, and we summarize recent improvements on the assessment of anger expression. We also review recent studies addressing the association between anger and cardiovascular diseases, and we present potential neuroendocrine and behavioral mechanisms through which anger expression may increase risk for cardiovascular disease.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)573-591
Number of pages19
JournalJournal of Behavioral Medicine
Volume29
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2006

Keywords

  • Anger expression
  • Assessment
  • Cardiovascular diseases
  • Cortisol
  • Endogenous opioid system
  • Neuroendocrine responses
  • Stress

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