Am J Psychiatry 1987; 144:1009-1013
Copyright © 1987 by American Psychiatric Association
Some physiologic antecedents of adult mental health
KA Phillips, GE Vaillant and P Schnurr
The authors report on 188 healthy college men followed biennially from age
19 years to age 63. A relatively low standing heart rate and long treadmill
running time in college predicted mental--but not physical-- health during
the next 40 years, whereas a relatively low blood pressure predicted future
physical--but not mental--health. These relationships remained significant
when the effects of physical fitness and body build were partialled out,
suggesting that psychological components of physiologic phenomena accounted
for their prediction of mental health outcome. The authors speculate that a
high resting heart rate reflected social anxiety and prolonged running time
reflected perseverance and stoicism.
