Abstract
Objectives To determine the relationship between Type D personality (the tendency to experience negative emotions and to be socially inhibited) and illness beliefs in postmyocardial infarction (MI) patients. Methods One hundred and ninety-two MI patients participated. Patients were assessed on demographic variables and completed the Type D Scale (DS14) and Brief Illness Perceptions Questionnaire one week post-MI. Results Multivariate analysis of variance revealed that Type D patients were significantly different from non-Type D patients on every illness perception dimension. Type D patients believe that their illness has significantly more serious consequences (P<.001), will last significantly longer (P<.001), will be significantly less controllable by them (P<.05) or through treatment (P<.001) compared to non-Type D patients, and experience significantly more symptoms that they attribute to their illness (P<.001). In addition, they are significantly more concerned about their illness (P<.05), experience significantly more emotions as a result (P<.001), and find their illness to be significantly less comprehensible compared to non-Type D individuals (P<.001). Conclusion Type D individuals possess a distinct profile of illness beliefs, which may help explain the adverse effect of Type D on health outcomes following MI. Future research should evaluate intervention strategies to tackle illness perceptions in these high-risk patients.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 141-144 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Journal of Psychosomatic Research |
Volume | 70 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Feb 2011 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- illness perceptions
- myocardial infarction
- type D personality