Type D Personality and cardiovascular disease : an exploratory study

Abstract

Worldwide there is concern about the increase in the level of deaths due to coronary heart disease. In accordance with this global picture, coronary heart disease in South Africa signifies a key health problem. Type D Personality (or distressed personality) was developed as an emerging psychological risk factor in coronary heart disease. It is associated with an adverse prognosis, impaired health status, and a wide range of emotional distress symptoms, such as depression. Type D is defined as the tendency to experience increased negative distress such as anxiety, paired with the inhibition of these emotions in social interactions. Hence this exploratory pilot study aimed to determine the relationship between Type D Personality and coronary heart disease. In addition, this research aimed to observe prevalence rates of Type D Personality and coronary heart disease in a group of patients at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital diabetic clinic. A non-probability convenience sample of 104 Caucasian and Black, Afrikaans and English speaking diabetic patients were approached to be participants. Their ages ranged from 55 to 87 and their socio-economic status ranged from low to high. The Type D Scale–14 and a demographic questionnaire were used to assess for Type D Personality and coronary heart disease, respectively. Due to under reporting of coronary heart disease patients and the added possible confounding variable of a diagnosis of diabetes, the findings from this research indicate that no statistically significant results were found. However, 41.4% of participants could be classified as Type D. Interestingly, although 41.4% of participants were classified as Type D, 68.9% were classified as positive for Negative Affectivity. Of the total sample of 104 respondents, 35.6% tested positive for coronary heart disease and 92.3% for hypertension. Only 18.3% of the 104 respondents tested positive for both coronary heart disease and Type D. A total of 38.5% of the participants tested positive for hypertension and Type D.