Bad temper linked to breathing problems

Last updated at 12:37 04 June 2007


Having a bad temper can lead to breathing difficulties, research has shown.

Scientists found a peculiar correlation between levels of hostility and impaired lung function in young people.

Researchers looked at a group of 4,629 men and women aged 18 to 30 from four urban areas in the US.

All were asked to fill in a standard psychological questionnaire designed to assess anger and aggression. They also blew into a machine which tested how much "puff" they had, a measure of lung capacity.

As a general trend, the more hostile an individual's personality was, the worse his or her lungs performed.

Taking account of age, height, social and economic background, smoking and the presence of asthma did not alter the pattern.

The association was statistically significant for both black and white women, and black men, but only marginal for white men.

Writing in the journal Health Psychology, the researchers suggest stress as an explanation.

The social consequences of displaying hostility might be stronger for people in lower status roles, they believe.

As a result, black women, white women and black men might suffer higher levels of health-harming internalised stress than white men.

Lead author and psychologist Dr Benita Jackson, from Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, US, said: "Recent research demonstrates that greater hostility predicts lung function decline in older men. This is the first study of young adults to offer a detailed examination of the inverse link between hostility and pulmonary function.

"It's remarkable to see reductions in lung function during a time of life we think of as healthy for most people. Right now, we can't say if having a hostile personality causes lung function decline, though we now know that these things happen together.

"More research is needed to establish whether hostility is associated with change in pulmonary function during young adulthood."

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