Purpose. This research investigated the effects of individual characteristics on cardiovascular reactivity, and in turn on the potential for developing coronary heart disease. Design. Path analysis was performed using LISREL, a structural equation modeling program providing maximum likelihood estimators and goodness-of-fit measures. Setting. Data were collected during a health assessment program, from participants attending a Department of Defense senior service school. Subjects. Participants were 134 senior-ranking male military and civilian employee volunteers, representing approximately 84 % of all students in training. Measures. Five individual characteristics, four measures of cardiovascular reactivity, and one coronary heart disease risk potential variable were investigated. These included Physical Fitness, Type A behavior, Trait Anger and Trait Anxiety, Diastolic and Systolic Blood Pressure measures, and Coronary Heart Disease Risk. Results. Significant path coefficients (critical ratios > 2) indicated that the mean diastolic blood pressure under a video stress condition was predictive of increased potential of developing coronary heart disease (.51), while hard driving Type A behavior was a cardiovascular reactivity antecedent associated with an increase in coronary heart disease risk directly (.14) and indirectly (.39). Physical fitness, on the other hand, had a positive affect in that increased fitness was related to lower cardiovascular reactivity when participants were stressed (−.58). Conclusions. Physical fitness is indirectly beneficial in reducing coronary heart disease risk potential by reducing an individual's diastolic blood pressure response, while scoring high as a Type A Hard Driving personality increases cardiovascular reactivity and coronary heart disease risk. This study is limited to middle-aged males who were generally healthy and displayed concern for their health.
