The relationship between wives' social and psychologic status and their husbands' coronary heart disease. A case-control family study from the Western Collaborative Group Study.

Analysis of spouse data from the Western Collaborative Group Study indicated that a number of the wives' behavioral characteristics and their social status were associated with the occurrence of coronary heart disease among their husbands. During 1970-1971, a total number of 130 case and control nuclear families were recruited on a voluntary basis to further investigate the familial component of the Type A/B behavior patterns and their behavioral and psycho-social correlates. When stratified by the behavior type of the husband, we found that Type A men married to women with 13 or more years of schooling had an increased odds ratio (OR) of 3.6 for coronary heart disease compared with 0.4 in Type B men with similarly educated wives. The wife's employment status outside the home did not show a significant association with coronary disease in the husband (OR = 1.3). A self-reported measure of perceived accomplishments of the wife showed an association with coronary disease of the husband that was independent of his Type A/B behavior type (OR = 2.7). Further analyses of the psychologic aspects of the marital partners, as assessed by the Thurstone Temperament Schedule, indicated that Type A husbands who had coronary disease were married to wives who were more active and dominant than wives of noncases. On the other hand, Type B men who had stable wives with 13 or more years of education seemed to be protected from coronary disease. The relationship between coronary disease and husbands' characteristics showed case husbands to be more dominant and reflective regardless of their Type A/B behavior.