Abstract
Distressed (‘Type D’) personality, the combination of negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition (SI), has been associated with adverse health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine if an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program could reduce Type D personality characteristics. Distressed individuals from the Dutch general population (N = 146; mean age = 46.07; 69 % female) participated in a randomized trial comparing the mindfulness intervention with waitlist control. Although change in Type D caseness did not differ between groups, the intervention group showed stronger reductions for both NA (p < .001) and SI (p < .05) dimensions, even when change in state negative affect was statistically controlled. These effects were mediated by change in self-reported mindfulness. In conclusion, MBSR may reduce characteristics of the distressed personality type, likely through the mechanism of increased mindfulness.
Highlights
The ‘‘distressed’’, or Type D, personality is defined as the combination of two basic traits: negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition (SI)
Type D has mainly been studied in cardiovascular patients, evidence is emerging that Type D is a vulnerability factor for decreased physical and mental health status and poor self-management in a wide variety of noncardiovascular patient populations (Mols & Denollet, 2010)
A logistic regression analysis predicting missingness was performed in which missing values are recoded as 1 and existing values as 0 and available baseline data are used as predictors
Summary
The ‘‘distressed’’, or Type D, personality is defined as the combination of two basic traits: negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition (SI). SI is conceptualized as the tendency to inhibit the expression of emotions and behaviors in social interactions, which is related to the construct of introversion (r = 0.59–0.65) (Kupper & Denollet, 2007). A score higher or equal to 10 on both of the two selfreport subscales measuring these dimensions defines Type D caseness (Denollet, 2005). It is a non-psychopathological personality construct that is highly prevalent, with a rate of 13–32.5 % in the general population, 27–31 % in cardiac patients, and up to 45 % in heart failure patients (Denollet, 2005; Pedersen & Denollet, 2006). Type D has mainly been studied in cardiovascular patients, evidence is emerging that Type D is a vulnerability factor for decreased physical and mental health status and poor self-management in a wide variety of noncardiovascular patient populations (Mols & Denollet, 2010)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
