مکانیزم های شخصیت نوع-D عاطفه: نقش رفتار مرتبط با سلامت و حمایت اجتماعی

Objective To (a) investigate the prevalence of type-D personality (the conjoint effects of negative affectivity and social inhibition) in a healthy British and Irish population; (b) to test the influence of type-D on health-related behavior, and (c) to determine if these relationships are explained by neuroticism. Methods A cross-sectional design was employed; 1012 healthy young adults (225 males, 787 females, mean age 20.5 years) from the United Kingdom and Ireland completed measures of type-D personality, health behaviors, social support, and neuroticism. Results The prevalence of type-D was found to be 38.5%, significantly higher than that reported in other European countries. In addition, type-D individuals reported performing significantly fewer health-related behaviors and lower levels of social support than non-type-D individuals. These relationships remained significant after controlling for neuroticism. Conclusion These findings provide new evidence on type-D and suggest a role for health-related behavior in explaining the link between type-D and poor clinical prognosis in cardiac patients.

Clinical risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) are well documented (e.g., high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol) [1], [2] and [3]. In addition, research has also focussed on establishing psychological risk factors for CVD (e.g., depression [4], social support [5], hostility [6]). However, there has been considerable uncertainty regarding the role of personality factors and risk of CVD. Much of this uncertainty stems from the controversy surrounding the contradictory findings regarding whether type-A behavior led to the development of coronary heart disease (CHD) (e.g., [7] and [8]). More recently, there has been resurgence in the interest in personality as a risk factor in the long-term prognosis of cardiac patients with the introduction of the “distressed” personality type or type-D [9]. Developed by Denollet, type-D refers to individuals who simultaneously experience high levels of negative affectivity (NA) and high levels of social inhibition (SI). In other words, type-D individuals are thought to experience negative emotions and inhibit the expression of these emotions in social interactions, suggesting that it is not merely the presence of NA that should be considered as a risk factor but also how an individual copes with his or her negative emotions.