Changes in daily hassles and life events and the relationship with coronary heart disease risk factors: a 2-year longitudinal study in 27-29-year-old males and females.

To investigate the relationship between changes in daily hassles and life events and biological (lipoproteins, blood pressure, body fat, and body fat distribution) and lifestyle (physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption) risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) 166 subjects were measured twice, at 27 and 29 years of age. The results showed that changes in daily hassles were positively related to changes in lipoprotein levels, daily physical activity, and to smoking behavior. These relationships were more pronounced for subjects with a "rigid" coping style and subjects with type A behavior. Changes in life events were also positively related to lipoprotein levels, but only for subjects with a "rigid" coping style and only when the subjective appraisal of life events was taken into account. It was concluded that the relationships seemed to be mediated by different coping styles and type A behavior, that daily hassles were more important in these relationships than life events, and that the relationships with biological CHD risk factors were not influenced by lifestyle.