• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.18-26
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• 2013

Objectives : Type D personality was originally introduced to study the role of personality in predicting outcomes of heart disease. However, researches showed that other medical conditions are also affected by this personality. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between type D personality and somatic symptom complaints in depressive patients. Methods : Eighty-two individuals diagnosed with depressive disorder were included. Type D personality was measured with DS14. Patient Health Questionnaire(PHQ) 9 and 15 were used to measure depression severity and somatization tendencies. For alexithymia, TAS-20 was used. Student T-test and linear regression analysis were performed. The best regression model was determined by stepwise variable selection. Results : More than half of the subjects(56%) complained at least medium degree somatic symptoms according to PHQ-15 criteria. Two-thirds of the subjects were classified as Type D personality(63.4%). The mean PHQ-15 score of the Type D individuals was significantly higher than the remaining subjects(PHQ-15 mean=12.7, $p=8.2{\times}10^{-7}$). The best regression model included age, PHQ-9 score and NA subscale score as predictor variables. Among these, only the coefficients of age($p=1.5{\times}10^{-3}$) and NA score($p=1.5{\times}10^{-7}$) were found to be statistically significant. Conclusions : The result showed that Type D personality was one of the strong predictors of somatic complaints among depressive individuals. The finding that negative affectivity rather than social inhibition was more closely associated with somatization tendencies does not fully agree with the traditional explanation that inability to express negative emotion predispose the individuals to somatic symptoms. The finding that alexithymia was not shown to be a significant predictors also substantiated this discrepancy. However, it might be possible that the high correlation between NA and SI subscore(r=0.65) and between NA and TAS-20 score(r=0.44) hid the additional effects of social inhibition and alexithymia. Further research with a larger sample would be needed to investigate the effects of the latter two components over and above the effect of negative affectivity on the somatic complaints in depressive patients.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.81-87
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• 2007

Objectives : The distressed personality (type-D) pattern, consisting of negative affectivity and social inhibition, has been shown by Denollet et al. For measuring the Type D characteristics, Denollet has devised the 14 item Type D scale (DS14). In the present study, this instrument was translated into Korean. The reliability and validity of the Korean DS14 was pilot tested. Methods : Preliminary version of the total 17-item DS14 scale was translated into Korean. 372 controls that did not have any coronary heart diseases (CHD) were randomly sampled in Seoul and Gyeonggi province. Preliminary Korean version was applied to controls and 14 items were finally selected to maximize reliability of the scale. We compared the distribution of type-D personality among the normal controls, hypertensive patients, and the CHD patients. Results : 7 of 10 items in social inhibition were selected and final 14-item version was made. The internal consistency of negative affectivity (0.817) and social inhibition (0.797) were high. In addition, the prevalence of type-D personality in the CHD patients group was significantly higher than normal controls. Conclusion : These findings suggest that Korean version of DS14 is a valid tool for measuring the type D characteristics. Type-D characteristics can be suggested to predict adverse prognosis in patients with CHD.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.81-87
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• 2006

A lot of studies have investigated the role of psychosocial and behavioral risk factors in the etiology and pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease. On the basis of prospective population studies that found a relationship between Type A behavior and cardiac morbidity and mortality independent of traditional risk factors, Type A behavior was declared a risk factor for the development of coronary heart disease. Additionally, recently proposed, a new personality construct, Type D personality have been reported to be associated with the increased risk for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. In Korea, however, there were few studies about these issues. This article attempts to provide an overview of accumulating evidences on the Type A behavioral pattern and Type D personality related with cardiovascular disease to offer new directions for research.