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Is there an association among low untreated serum lipid levels, anger, and hazardous driving?

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Abstract

Anger and hazardous driving were explored in two studies for their possible explanatory role in the low cholesterol-violent mortality association. In Study 1, we obtained fasting blood samples and indices of anger and driving habits from 102 healthy young adults. Among men (but not women), lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels were associated with significantly higher anger (r = -.41, p < .01) and unsafe driving habits (r = -.30, p < .05), and although total cholesterol levels were correlated in the predicted direction, these were not significant. In Study 2,78 healthy young men completed the same measures, and this time, both lower total and LDL-cholesterol were significantly related to increased anger and dangerous driving. Implications of these Findings are discussed as are possible avenues for future research. Further scrutiny of the components of serum cholesterol and their relation to psychological factors may aid us in better understanding the reasons why men are at increased risk for hazardous behavior and violent death.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Dalhousie University, University of Alabama, 870348, 35487-0348, Halifax, Tuscaloosa, Nova Scolia, AL, Canada

    Karina W. Davidson & Patrick McGrath

  2. Departments of Medicine and Biochemistry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    S. Sethu K. Reddy

  3. Department of Family Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    David Zitner

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  1. Karina W. Davidson
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  2. S. Sethu K. Reddy
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  3. Patrick McGrath
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  4. David Zitner
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Additional information

This research was supported by a grant from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Medical Research Foundation. We thank Sandra McFadyen and Michael MacGregor for data collection, and Sandra McFadyen and William F, Chaplin for comments on an earlier version of this article.

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Davidson, K.W., Reddy, S.S.K., McGrath, P. et al. Is there an association among low untreated serum lipid levels, anger, and hazardous driving?. Int. J. Behav. Med. 3, 321–336 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327558ijbm0304_3

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