U-curved relation between total fasting serum cholesterol and hostility: A population-based study

Some researchers have found higher cholesterol levels linearly related to hostility, whereas others have found no relation. Even so, it remains unclear whether research should seek to find a linear relation between hostility and cholesterol levels. We hypothesized that a U-curved association was the proper test of the relation between hostility and cholesterol. Total fasting and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels were collected from a population-based sample of 2,306 Canadians. Barefoot's (1989) scoring of the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale was used to assess hostility levels. Both a linear and a U-curved relation among hostility scores, fasting total, and LDL cholesterol levels were significant. Participants with low and high cholesterol levels had significantly higher hostility scores than the normal cholesterol group. A U-curved relation between hostility and serum cholesterol levels may be a more appropriate function to consider given the all-cause mortality findings we seek to explain.