A New Perspective on the "Freshman 15" and Other Weight Gain...

It is common knowledge that eating bad foods and not exercising can lead to bad health, but these habits can also be caused by anger and depression. Recently, in an issue of Behavior Modification, Steven D. Anton and Peter M. Miller of the Medical University of South Carolina conducted a case study on how the negative emotions of older adults affect alcohol consumption, saturated fat intake, and physical activity. The study included a series of questionnaires proven to be accurate. There were 23 participants, 16 males and 7 females, all of whom were successful in corporate business and were Caucasian. It is important to realize that the health of the American society is on average, below normal and investigating the problem can only result in positive feedback on an issue that many people battle daily. The scientists made a new discovery in treating obesity and this experiment was just the beginning of more research to be conducted in this area of cognitive behavior.

Coronary Heart Disease (CDH) is defined as the end result of the accumulation of atheromatous plaques (fat/cholesterol build-up) within the walls of the arteries that supply the myocardium (the muscle of the heart). “Coronary heart disease and stroke are the leading cause of death and disability in the United States and while genetics may contribute to this disease, it has been proven that lifestyle factors play a significant role in the development and progression of chronic disease” (Anton, Miller 2). The main goal of this study was to isolate other causes of chronic disease besides strictly bad eating habits and no exercise. The participants, with an average age of 58, were given a series of questionnaires dealing with anger expression (STAXI), depression levels (CES-D), anxiety rating, fat intake (FIS), and a “focus on the heart” questionnaire, which analyzed alcohol consumption. Each of the surveys asked the subject specific questions where they rated their answers on number scales (Anton, Miller, 6). The authors clearly state more experimentation is necessary into the psychological aspect of these cognitive habits, as this study had several factors of deviation. All the participants are Caucasian and the race with the highest coronary heart disease risk are African-Americans. Also, only so much accuracy can be extracted from questionnaires, because the experimenters are putting great confidence in the truthfulness of the subjects.

After analyzing the answers, Anton and Miller came up with several common conclusions, as well as, one surprising cause of exercise. The first topic addressed was alcohol consumption. They multiplied quantity (number of drinks) by frequency (drinking days per week) to come up with correlation numbers. Levels of tension and anxiety were negatively correlated with alcohol consumption and neither depression nor anger scores were correlated with alcohol (Anton, Miller, 7). This means that as alcohol was consumed, the tension and anxiety levels were not affected. Next, levels of saturated fat intake were taken in. The CES-D survey and the FIS survey were directly correlated, which means that as depression increased, saturated fat intake also increased. The FIS survey was also correlated with the anger and expression survey, concluding that levels of saturated fat intake increased with poor anger expression. Exercise and aerobic conditioning were negatively affected by amount of stress. However, the one new, major conclusion of this experiment was that there was a strong positive correlation between internal anger expression and strength training. The scientists found that people who contain their anger without expression are more likely to participate in strength training because that type of exercise works to release anger.

In the scientists discussion of the experiment they state that they expected depression and trait anger would be positively associated with increased levels of saturated fat intake (Anton, Miller, 9). They also stated that they were surprised that stress and anxiety were negatively associated with alcohol consumption, as previous studies have found that negative emotions increase consumption. They attribute this deviation to the sample of subjects; by stating that most were successful corporate executives who tend to stray from alcohol because of decreased productivity (Anton, Miller, 10). “The key findings of this study were that anger levels and expression style were strongly associated with health behaviors” (Anton, Miller, 10). The researchers believe that if further research continues to conclude that there is a strong relationship between anger levels and poor health habits, then efforts should be made to identify and treat those at risk (Anton, Miller, 10).

The experimenters, as well as myself, believe that obesity is a problem and it is important to take in all the aspects of this problem. The findings of this study open the door for future research into this area of psychology. “Further research examining this relationship would enhance our understanding of both personality and health behaviors, leading to more effective interventions for CHD risk factors” (Anton, Miller, 12). It is essential that medical researchers address this issue to bring the large number of people affected by coronary heart disease down.

Works Cited:
Anton, Stephen D., and Peter M. Miller "Do Negative Emotions Predict Alcohol Consumption, Saturated Fat Intake, and Physical Activity in Older Adults?" Behavior Modification 29 (2005): 1-13. Sage Journals Online. 15 Feb. 2007 .