Type D personality as a predictor of self-efficacy and social support in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of Type D personality and assess the relationship between this personality type and self-efficacy/social support in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).Patients and methodsFrom January 1, 2014, to July 31, 2014, 532 consecutive patients with T2DM were recruited from two hospitals in Guangzhou, China. The participants completed questionnaires containing questions about sociodemographic characteristics, Type D personality, self-efficacy, and social support scales, and their medical records were reviewed for additional data.ResultsOf the 532 patients, 18.2% had Type D personality. Patients with this personality type reported significantly lower levels of self-efficacy (P<0.001), total social support (P<0.001), subjective support (P<0.001), and support utilization (P=0.003), but similar level of objective support (P=0.314), compared to those of patients without Type D personality. Negative affectivity and social inhibition, two intrinsic traits of Type D personality, negatively correlated with self-efficacy and social support scores. Type D personality was significantly associated with less self-efficacy and social support (P<0.001), controlling for other sociodemographic factors. Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels were significantly higher in T2DM patients with Type D personality than in patients with non-Type D personality.ConclusionThis study provides new evidence linking Type D personality with self-efficacy, social support, and poor glycemic control, highlighting the special need for care among T2DM patients with Type D personality.

The Prevalence of Type D Personality and Correlations between Medication Self-Efficacy and Self-Care Behavior in Patients with Hypertension

“…The prevalence found is close to that found in other Asian countries such as the 18.2% prevalence of type D personality in type 2 diabetic patients in Chinese patients (Shao et al, 2017). Likewise, the prevalence of type D personality in Korean healthy, CHD, and hypertension groups was 27% (Lim et al, 2011).…”

“…Focusing on two domains of type D personality, which are negative affectivity and social inhibition, an inverse relationship with medication self-efficacy was found. This finding can be supported by the result which both negative affectivity and social inhibition showed a negative association with selfefficacy (Shao et al, 2017). Also, there was a study reported that after discharge from the hospital for six months, 30% of patients who were type D personality have a significant lower medication adherence (Molloy et al, 2012).…”

Type D personality and social relations in adults with diabetes: results from diabetes MILES – The Netherlands

“…Type D personality was associated with lower levels of social support in Danish and Dutch Type D participants with cardiac arrhythmias (Pedersen et al, 2009), Iranian myocardial infarction patients (Bagherian Sararoudi et al, 2011), and Indonesian patients with coronary heart disease (Ginting et al, 2016). Initial evidence in people with type 2 diabetes also suggested that individuals with Type D personality may also experience less social support (Nefs et al, 2012;Shao et al, 2017). Our study confirms these findings, and extends them to people with type 1 diabetes.…”

“…In people with diabetes, Type D has been associated with suboptimal health behaviors (Conti, Carrozzino, Patierno, Vitacolonna, & Fulcheri, 2016;Nefs et al, 2015) and with higher HbA1c (X. Li, et al, 2017;Shao, Yin, & Wan, 2017).…”

“…Little research has yet been conducted on Type D and social support in people with diabetes. Initial evidence suggests that Type D may be associated with experiencing less social support (Shao et al, 2017) and feeling more lonely (Nefs, Pouwer, Pop, & Denollet, 2012b) in people with type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, there has not been any research yet on Type D personality and relationship adjustment.…”