Fig. 1

a The relation between hostility and TL is moderated by sex in participants with CAD or other chronic illnesses (β = − .08, t = − 2.78, p = .006). Greater hostility was associated with shorter TL in women (β = − .001, t = − 2.82, p = .005), but not in men (β = .001, t = .78, p = .43). b Among patients, the relationship between defensiveness and TL is moderated by CAD status (β = − .06, t = − 1.98, p = .049). Greater defensiveness tended to be associated with longer TL among individuals with CAD (β = .001, t = 1.93, p = .06), but not among patients with non-CV illnesses (β = − .001, t = − .93, p = .35). c In healthy individuals, the sex by hostility interaction was significant. Greater hostility was associated with significantly longer TL among men (β = .09, t = 2.37, p = .028), but not in women (β = − .02, t = − .54, p = .59). d The relation between defensiveness and TL is moderated by sex in healthy participants. Greater defensiveness was associated with shorter TL in healthy men (β = − .30, t = − 3.56, p = .002), but not in women (β = .05, t = .66, p = .52). Note: Relative telomere length: residuals adjusting for covariates found in respective hierarchical regressions were used to create the jittered scatterplots. Interaction terms in the main analyses were created from centred variables