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Background: Type D personality, or the "distressed personality", is a psychosocial factor associated with negative health outcomes, although its impact in younger populations is unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Type D personality and the associations between Type D personality and psychosomatic symptoms and musculoskeletal pain among adolescences. Methods: A population-based, self-reported cross-sectional study conducted in Vastmanland, Sweden with a cohort of 5012 students in the age between 15-18 years old. The participants completed the anonymous questionnaire Survey of Adolescent Life in Vastmanland 2008 during class hour. Psychosomatic symptoms and musculoskeletal pain were measured through index measuring the presence of symptoms and how common they were. DS14 and its two component subscales of negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition (SI) were measured as well. Results: There was a difference depending on sex, where 10.4% among boys and 14.6% among girls (p = < 0.001) were defined as Type D personality. Boys and girls with a Type D personality had an approximately 2-fold increased odds of musculoskeletal pain and a 5-fold increased odds of psychosomatic symptoms. The subscale NA explained most of the relationship between Type D personality and psychosomatic symptoms and musculoskeletal pain. No interaction effect of NA and SI was found. Conclusions: There was a strong association between Type D personality and both psychosomatic symptoms and musculoskeletal pain where adolescent with a type D personality reported more symptoms. The present study contributes to the mapping of the influence of Type D on psychosomatic symptoms and musculoskeletal pain among adolescents.

Objective: Sleep problems are associated with an increased risk of psychiatric and somatic diseases. Type D personality, or the distressed personality, refers to the joint tendency to experience negative emotions and to inhibit self-expression in social interaction. Type D personality is associated with an increased number of health complaints including cardiovascular diseases. The present study investigated whether Type D personality was associated with sleep problems among adolescents. Methods: The study was part of the Survey of Adolescent Life in Vastmanland 2008 (SALVe 2008). A total of 5012 adolescents (age 15-18 years old) completed a questionnaire including the Type D measurement DS14 and questions on sleep disturbances, sleep hours during school nights, and sleep hours during weekend nights. Results: Adolescents with a Type D personality had an approximately four times increased risk of having sleep disturbances. Moreover, Type D personality was associated with sleeping fewer hours. Conclusion: As adolescence represents a formative period for development it is critical to identify sleep disorders early. The presence of Type D personality associated with poor sleep demands attention because sleep problems may be an early stage in the development of later diseases.

This study examined the prevalence of Type D personality and the temporal stability, internal consistency, and construct validity of the DS14 at three time points after myocardial infarction. The prevalence of Type D personality was 14.0% during hospitalization, 25.1% at 1 month, and 19.2% at 12 months. A total of 6.1% of patients were classified as Type D personality at all three assessments, whereas 68.4% were stable non-Type D and 25.6% changed between personality classifications. The DS14 had stable structural validity, but low temporal stability over time, especially from hospitalization to the 1-month and 12-month follow-ups (k = 0.365 and 0.397, respectively).

Background

Type D personality refers to a combination of simultaneously high levels of negative affectivity and social inhibition. The present study aimed to examine whether type D personality was independently associated with recurrent myocardial infarction or all-cause mortality in post-acute myocardial infarction patients, using any of the previously proposed methods for measuring type D personality.

Design

This was a prospective cohort study.

Methods

Utilising data from the Västmanland Myocardial Infarction Study, 946 post-acute myocardial infarction patients having data on the DS14 instrument used to measure type D personality were followed-up for recurrent myocardial infarction and all-cause mortality until 9 December 2015. Data were analysed using Cox regression, adjusted for established risk factors.

Results

In total, 133 (14.1%) patients suffered from type D personality. During a mean follow-up time for recurrent myocardial infarction of 5.7 (3.2) years, 166 (17.5%) patients were affected by recurrent myocardial infarction, of which 26 (15.7%) had type D personality, while during a mean follow-up time for all-cause mortality of 6.3 (2.9) years, 321 (33.9%) patients died, of which 42 (13.1%) had type D personality. After adjusting for established risk factors, type D personality was not significantly associated with recurrent myocardial infarction or all-cause mortality using any of the previously proposed methods for measuring type D personality. A weak association was found between the social inhibition part of type D personality and a decreased risk of all-cause mortality, but this association was not significant after taking missing data into account in a multiple imputation analysis.

Conclusions

No support was found for type D personality being independently associated with recurrent myocardial infarction or all-cause mortality in post-acute myocardial infarction patients, using any of the previously proposed methods for measuring type D personality.