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The assessment of Type A behaviour pattern: results from a spouse-report approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

John T. Condon
John T. Condon*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park, Australia
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr John T. Condon, Department of Psychiatry, Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park, South Australia 5041, Australia.
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Synopsis

Evidence is summarized suggesting that existing self-report questionnaires for the assessment of Type A behaviour pattern suffer from major methodological shortcomings. Type A individuals may be unwilling or unable to accurately self-report. The female spouse of the male patient can potentially provide a more objective, accurate ‘trait’ description less contaminated by ‘state’ variables such as diagnosis of illness or medication. The development of a spouse-report questionnaire is described and pilot data from 41 couples are presented, including comparison of the self-report and spouse-report responses on 46 questionnaire items and five scales. Unexpectedly high levels of agreement were found between self and spouse reports. Possible explanations of such agreement are critically examined.

Type
Preliminary Communication
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 18 , Issue 3 , August 1988 , pp. 747 - 755
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

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