تیپ شخصیتی D و واکنش پذیری همودینامیک به استرس در زنان آزمایشگاهی

The Type D personality (identified by high levels of both negative affectivity and social inhibition) has been associated with negative health consequences in cardiac patients. However, few studies have explored whether the Type D personality is associated with particular patterns of cardiovascular responses to stress. In the present study, cardiovascular reactivity to psychological stress (CVR) was examined as a possible mediating mechanism by which Type D personality may affect cardiovascular health, with specific focus on hemodynamic profile. Eighty-nine female university students completed a mental arithmetic stressor while undergoing hemodynamic monitoring. Blood pressure, heart rate, cardiac output, and total peripheral resistance in response to the stressor were examined. Type D personality was assessed using the 16-item Type D scale. Results indicated that there were no between-group differences in magnitude of blood pressure increase, with both Type D and non-Type D individuals demonstrating myocardial response profiles. However, Type D individuals were less “myocardial” than non-Type D individuals. This indicates that a weak myocardial response to an active stressor in Type D individuals may be indicative of hemodynamic maladaptation to stress, implicating CVR as a possible mechanism involved in Type D-cardiovascular health associations.

Characterized by high scores for both negative affectivity (NA; the propensity to experience negative emotions) and social inhibition (SI; the tendency to inhibit emotions in social situations), the so-called “distressed” or Type D personality has been shown to be statistically associated with health outcomes in coronary patients. Studies have linked Type D personality with cardiac and all-cause mortality (e.g., Denollet et al., 1996 and Denollet et al., 2000) and increased cardiac morbidity (Denollet and Brutsaert, 1998). Furthermore, the Type D personality has been shown to be a predictor of patient adjustment to disease interventions (e.g., Pedersen et al., 2007a and Pedersen et al., 2007b). While Type D cannot be said to encompass all psychological risk factors involved in coronary heart disease (CHD; Denollet and Van Heck, 2001), its association with negative clinical outcomes appears to be on par with established biomedical risk factors such as smoking, older age, and poor exercise tolerance (e.g., Denollet et al., 1996, Denollet et al., 2000 and Denollet and Brutsaert, 1998).