Type D personality, quality of life and physical symptoms in the general population: A dimensional analysis

Abstract

Objective: Type D personality, the interaction of negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition (SI), has been associated with a range of adverse health-related outcomes in cardiac patients and healthy participants. However, recent studies which have adopted a dimensional approach to Type D found no effect of Type D (NA × SI) on mortality or quality of life, after controlling for its constituent elements. To date, no study has determined if Type D is associated with negative health outcomes in healthy individuals when conceptualised as a dimensional variable.Design: A cross-sectional self-report study with 177 healthy participants.Main Outcome Measures: Physical symptoms and quality of life.Results: Using the traditional categorical analysis for Type D, it was found that Type D’s report significantly more symptoms and significantly lower quality of life than non-Type D’s report. However, when analysed as a dimensional construct (NA × SI), using multiple regression analysis, Type D (NA × SI) was not a significant predictor of physical symptoms or quality of life, after controlling for the main effects of NA and SI separately.Conclusion: These findings support those of recent studies that have identified null effects of Type D on outcome when analysed as a dimensional construct.