Anger: What’s Your Score?

Several studies have demonstrated that people with a low threshold for anger have a greater probability of high blood pressure and heart disease. When compared with calmer people, these individuals experience rage and fury more often, more intensely, and for longer periods of time.
Information from a long-term epidemiological study done at Duke University called Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) offers some perspective on the relative importance of this risk factor. As part of the investigation, subjects were asked to complete the Spielberger State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory, a questionnaire used by psychologists to assess how anger prone a person is. Subjects had to respond to these ten statements by answering:

Almost Never  1,
Sometimes  2,
Often  3,
and Almost Always  4.

The overall anger score is calculated by adding together the ratings for each statement.
• I am quick-tempered.
• I have a fiery temper.
• I am a hotheaded person.
• I get angry when I am slowed down by others’ mistakes.
• I feel annoyed when I am not given recognition for doing good work.
• I fly off the handle.
• When I get angry, I say nasty things.
• It makes me furious when I am criticized in front of others.
• When I get frustrated, I feel like hitting someone.
• I feel infuriated when I do a good job and get a poor evaluation.

Scoring: 22–40  high anger; 15–21  moderate anger; 10–14  low anger

In the Duke study, the higher a person’s anger score, the greater the risk of developing coronary artery disease during the seventy-two-month follow-up period. The findings don’t prove that anger causes heart problems or that measures to control anger will help anyone live longer. But they do suggest a close relationship between psychological and cardiovascular health.