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Heart Disease Occurs in a Biological, Psychological, and Social Matrix: Cardiac Risk Factors, Symptom Presentation, and Recovery as Illustrative Examples

  • Original Article
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Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Despite the basic premise of behavioral medicine that understanding and treatment of physical well-being require a full appreciation of the confluence of micro-, molar-, and macro-variables, the field tends to focus on linear, causal relationships. In this paper, we argue that more attention be given to a dynamic matrix approach, which assumes that biological, psychological, and social elements are interconnected and continually influence each other (consistent with the biopsychosocial model). To illustrate, the authors draw from their independent and collaborative research programs on overlapping cardiac risk factors, symptom interpretation, and treatment delay for cardiac care and recovery from heart disease. “Cabling” across biological, psychological, and social variables is considered as a transformative strategy for medicine and the other health-related disciplines.

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Notes

  1. Factors related bidirectionally influence each other. Variable A influences B and B influences A. An example from physics is: For a fixed volume, an increase in temperature will cause an increase in pressure; likewise, increased pressure will cause an increase in temperature.

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Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, E-11 SSH, Spence Laboratories, University of Iowa, Iowa, IA, 52242, USA

    Jerry Suls Ph.D.

  2. Center for Research in the Implementation of Innovative Strategies in Practice, Veterans Affairs, Medical Center, Iowa, IA, USA

    René Martin Ph.D., R.N.

  3. College of Nursing, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

    René Martin Ph.D., R.N.

Authors
  1. Jerry Suls Ph.D.
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  2. René Martin Ph.D., R.N.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jerry Suls Ph.D..

Additional information

This study is based on a Master Lecture delivered by J. Suls at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Seattle, Washington. Research described here was supported by NIA AG024159 to JS, NIR 009292 to RM, and AHA 071001Z. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

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Suls, J., Martin, R. Heart Disease Occurs in a Biological, Psychological, and Social Matrix: Cardiac Risk Factors, Symptom Presentation, and Recovery as Illustrative Examples. ann. behav. med. 41, 164–173 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-010-9244-y

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