Healthy children, adolescents and young adults with parental coronary heart disease (CHD) (N = 78) were compared with their one-to-one matched controls without a parental CHD (N = 78) in terms of their psychological and behavioral characteristics. The variables adopted were Type A behavior, self-esteem, achievement striving, hyperactivity and social maladjustment. The results indicate a tendency for boys with parental CHD to be characterized by higher scores on Type A behavior, lower self-esteem and more intense striving for achievement compared to their matched controls. Girls with parental CHD differed from their matched controls in the predicted direction only in one respect: a higher level of hyperactivity was characteristic for cases.