Type D personality in the general population: a systematic review of health status, mechanisms of disease, and work-related problems

Abstract

BackgroundThe objective was to review all available literature concerning Type D (distressed) personality among the general population and to discuss its implications for research on health status, disease-promoting mechanisms and work-related problems in non-clinical populations.MethodsA computerized search of the literature was performed independently and in duplicate by both investigators on December 21st, 2009. Published research reports were included if they studied Type D personality among the general population. Nineteen articles were selected and they were subjected to an 11-item standardised quality checklist by both investigators.ResultsThe methodological quality of the selected studies was adequate to high. The studies included in this review showed that the presence of Type D characteristics had a negative impact on mental health status (more symptoms of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, mental distress, passive coping, and less social support) and physical health status (more somatic complaints, lower health status, more influenza-like illness reporting). Other studies reported on behavioral and biological mechanisms of disease in apparently healthy individuals with a Type D personality. Finally, some studies also showed a negative effect of Type D personality on work-related problems (higher absence-leave, higher levels of vital exhaustion and burnout, and more work-related stress).ConclusionsType D personality is a vulnerability factor for general psychological distress that affects mental and physical health status and is associated with disease-promoting mechanisms and work-related problems in apparently healthy individuals.

Statistically modelling the relationships between Type D personality and social support, health behaviors and symptom severity in chronic illness groups

“…As one of the characteristics of Type D personality is the tendency to report more somatic symptoms (Mols & Denollet, 2010b), we also predicted that the rate of Type D would be higher in functional somatic syndrome's compared to illnesses of known etiology. Based on recent findings by Kelly-Hughes, Wetherell and Smith (2014) and Stevenson and Williams (2014) we also predicted that negative affectivity and social inhibition would be superior in predicting health behaviors, social support, and symptom severity over categorical or continuous representations of Type D. Finally, we also predicted that Type D would differentially predict health behaviors, social support, and symptom severity between healthy controls and chronic illness sufferers, and between functional somatic syndromes and illnesses of known etiology.…”

“…Given the overlap of mechanisms associated with both Type D and functional somatic syndrome such as poor health behaviors, low perception of social support, adoption of poor coping mechanisms and greater reporting of somatic complaints (Mols & Denollet, 2010b), we expected to find such interactions. While results indicated two significant interactions at the .05 level, we treat the results cautiously given that they were not significant at the Bonferroni adjusted .002 level.…”

“…Mommersteeg et al, 2010), and cancer (Mols et al, 2012) have found that Type D is associated with poorer mental and physical health status, and prolonged illness duration. Following a systematic review of Type D in the general population, Mols and Denollet (2010b) reported that Type D was associated with increased physical and mental health problems and disease promoting mechanisms in non-clinical, and even healthy populations. Michal et al (2011) reported that Type D individuals were at severely increased risk for mental distress, major psychosocial stressors, and increased health care utilization.…”

The problem of distressed personality in a group of female footballers representing a club in the women’s first football league in Poland

“…they are approached as risk factors that may cause numerous psychological disorders (primarily depression, anxiety) and somatic complaints (mainly referring to the cardiovascular and immune systems). For this reason, the construct of type D personality is most often discussed and considered in the context of medical problems [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. the characteristics mentioned above make us hypothesize that type D personality may be related to a holistic perception of health and the quality of life.…”

“…Furthermore, it is manifested by conscious restraint -resulting from fear of rejection and social disapproval -from showing negative emotions in social situations and by inhibition of emotional expression. Finally, it is bound with low self-esteem [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. the first aspect is associated with the lack of life satisfaction, whereas the other is related to a limited acceptance of social support, as well as the feeling of fatigue.…”