Type A Behavior and Upper Respiratory Infections

Abstract

The present study investigates the relationship between upper respiratory infection (URI) and Type A behavior pattern. Type A and Type B college students completed a health survey which measured both incidence of and response to URI's. Overall, results revealed a pattern indicating that Type A's reported experiencing significantly more URI's than did their Type B counterparts, and that female Type A's reported significantly more frequent URI's than did female type B's. The results were discussed in terms of the Type A's stressful life style increasing his/her susceptibility to viral respiratory disease. The Type A's propensity to minimize or failure to attend to illness symptoms was also discussed.

Index Terms:

• type A behavior
• upper respiratory infections
• stress and disease
• physical symptoms