Negative affect as a high order emotional factor in cardiovascular patients

Depression, anxiety and anger trait have been shown to be factors related to poor prognosis in patients with cardiovascular disease. A sample of 168 patients with ischemic heart disease that have had a cardiac event in the last month (age: Mean = 64 years, SD = 11; 66.7 % men) was evaluated to verify the existence of negative affect as a common factor among the previous emotions in these patients. Patients answered the Spielberger depression, anxiety and anger trait questionnaires. Exploratory factorial analyses were carried out to confirm the factorial structure of the scales. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the existence of negative affect as a higher order factor (X2 = 3.42, p >.05; CFI >.95, TLI >.95, SRMS <.05). These results suggest that it is important to consider dimensional models for the treatment of emotions in this population. © 2018, Universidad Catolica de Colombia. All rights reserved