WEDNESDAY, Sept. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Type D (distressed) personality, a general propensity to distress defined by high "negative affectivity" and "social inhibition" scores, has adverse effects on cardiovascular outcomes, according to research published in the September issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.
Johan Denollet, Ph.D., of Tilburg University in the Netherlands, and colleagues provided an estimate of the prognostic risk associated with Type D personality using quantitative analyses of prospective studies that included 6,121 patients with a cardiovascular condition.
The researchers found that Type D personality was linked to a more than three-fold higher risk of adverse events (nine studies) and long-term psychological distress (11 studies). In a narrative review of 29 studies, the investigators found that type D personality and depression were independent symptoms of psychological distress, which had different and independent impacts on cardiovascular outcomes. The authors noted that adverse outcomes associated with Type D personality also may be attributable to biological and behavioral pathways.
"This summary indicates that in addition to depression, a general propensity to distress, as defined by standing on negative affectivity and social inhibition in the Type D model, affects cardiovascular outcomes," the authors write.
Abstract
Full Text