Developing measures of type A behavior in children and adolescents.

Abstract

Development of measures of Type A behavior in children and adolescents is described and the results of two studies to validate these measures are given. Children in the fifth, seventh, and ninth grades (n = 120 in Study I; n = 652 in Study II) were given five measures of the Type A Behavior Pattern (TABP): the Student Type A Behavior Scale (STABS); Student Structured Interviews (SSI), scored separately for content and behavior; Matthews Youth Test for Health (MYTH); and Parent Observation Checklist, as well as measures of state anxiety, trait anxiety, and depression. Descriptive statistics from the two samples were very similar and indicated that boys scored significantly higher than girls on the MYTH, while seventh and ninth grade girls scored significantly higher than fifth grade girls or boys of any grade on Structured Interview Behavior (SSI-Behavior). Correlations suggested separate self-reported perceptual and behavioral components of Type A behavior in children. In both studies, STABS and SSI-Content correlated moderately well (.48 to .49) but had little relationship with SI-Behavior and the MYTH. Measures of anxiety and depression included to assess discriminant validity were correlated with the self-report measures of TABP (.22 to .56), but showed little relationship with the behavioral measures, especially in the larger cross-validation study. Parallels between these results and those of adult studies are discussed, and the use of multiple measures in classifying subjects is suggested.