Type A behavior and the social production of cardiovascular disease.

Since the turn of the century, there has been a continued interest within medicine in the psychosocial and behavioral risks for cardiovascular disease. Current research supports type A behavior and its components as risk factors. At various points in time, researchers have suggested that the context in which emotion and behavior occurs is an important determinant of the risk-enhancing nature of these factors, but little systematic work has been done. It is argued here that future research on cardiovascular disease should more explicitly take social context into account to provide a better understanding of the nature of disease, and to provide more accurate models for medical education and patient care.