Table of Contents

Personality (Type D)

In follow-up questionnaire 1C, adult Lifelines participants were asked in how far they possess a Type D personality 1) (section: mental health).
Note that personality traits were also assessed in Lifelines using the ASI, the GAS, and the NEO questionnaires.
Moreover, various personality traits (hostility, reward sensitivity) were assessed in the context of an additional questionnaire on ADHD.

Background

Individuals with a Type D personality have the tendency to experience increased negative emotions across time and situations and tend not to share these emotions with others, because of fear of rejection or disapproval. The letter D stands for distressed.
Some early studies found that coronary artery disease (CAD) patients with a Type D personality have a worse prognosis following a myocardial infarction (MI) as compared to patients without a Type D personality.
However, not all studies with a similar research question could replicate these findings. Consequently, some researchers have questioned the influence of Type D personality on heart disease outcomes 2).

Scoring

The Type-D questionnaire used in Lifelines contains 14 items from the DS14 (1-14), and 6 additional items (15-21).
Participants were asked to rate how well the statements describe their personality on a 5-point Likert scale which correspond to 0 (false) to 4 (true) points (note that Lifelines enumerates the options from 1 to 5 rather than 0 to 4).

The Negative Affectivity and Social Inhibition scales van be used as continuous variables to assess each of these two personality traits in their own right. Scores on both scales range from 0-28, and can be calculated as follows:

Participants are classified as Type D if both Negative Affectivity is greater or equal than to 10 and Social Inhibition is greater than or equal to 10.

The following table from (1) can be used for the interpretation of the raw scores on both scales. The interpretation differs for men and women regarding Negative Affectivity, but not Social Inhibition.

Variables

Questions English Questions Dutch Variable Code Assessment Age
I make contact easily when I meet people. Ik maak gemakkelijk contact met mensen TYPED1 typed_social_adu_q_01 1C 18+
I often make a fuss about unimportant things. Ik maak me dikwijls druk om onbelangrijke zaken TYPED2 typed_negative_adu_q_02 1C 18+
I often talk to strangers. Ik maak vaak een praatje met onbekenden TYPED3 typed_social_adu_q_03 1C 18+
I often feel unhappy. Ik voel me vaak ongelukkig TYPED4 typed_negative_adu_q_04 1C 18+
I am often irritated. Ik ben vaak geïrriteerd TYPED5 typed_negative_adu_q_05 1C 18+
I often feel inhibited in social interactions. Ik voel me vaak geremd in de omgang met anderen TYPED6 typed_social_adu_q_06 1C 18+
I often find myself worrying about something. Ik maak mij dikwijls zorgen TYPED7 typed_negative_adu_q_07 1C 18+
I find it hard to start a conversation. Ik vind het moeilijk om een gesprek te beginnen TYPED8 typed_social_adu_q_08 1C 18+
I am often in a bad mood. Ik ben vaak slecht gehumeurd TYPED9 typed_negative_adu_q_09 1C 18+
I am a closed kind of person. Ik ben een gesloten persoon TYPED10 typed_social_adu_q_10 1C 18+
I would rather keep people at a distance. Ik houd andere mensen liefst wat op een afstand TYPED11 typed_social_adu_q_11 1C 18+
I take a gloomy view of things. Ik zie de zaken somber in TYPED12 typed_negative_adu_q_12 1C 18+
I am often down in the dumps. Ik zit vaak in de put TYPED13 typed_negative_adu_q_13 1C 18+
When socializing, I don't find the right things to talk about. Ik weet niet waarover ik moet praten met anderen TYPED14 typed_social_adu_q_14 1C 65+
I have little control over the things that happen to me. Ik heb weinig controle over de dingen die me overkomen TYPED15 typed_additional_adu_q_15 1C 65+
I cannot possibly solve some of my problems. Sommige van mijn problemen kan ik met geen mogelijkheid oplossen TYPED16 typed_additional_adu_q_16 1C 65+
There is little that I can do to change important things in my life. Er is weinig dat ik kan doen om belangrijke dingen in mijn leven te veranderen TYPED17 typed_additional_adu_q_17 1C 18+
I often feel helpless in dealing with the problems of life. Ik voel me vaak hulpeloos bij het omgaan met de problemen van het leven TYPED18 typed_additional_adu_q_18 1C 18+
Sometimes I feel that I am a plaything of life. Soms voel ik dat ik een speelbal van het leven ben TYPED19 typed_additional_adu_q_19 1C 18+
What happens to me in the future, mostly depends on myself. Wat er in de toekomst met me gebeurt, hangt voor het grootste deel van mezelf af TYPED20 typed_additional_adu_q_20 1C 18+
I can do just about anything if I have put my mind to it. Ik kan ongeveer alles als ik mijn zinnen erop gezet heb. TYPED21 typed_additional_adu_q_21 1C 18+
1)
Denollet, J. (2005) DS14: Standard Assessment of Negative Affectivity, Social Inhibition, and Type D Personality. Psychosomatic Medicine 67: 89-97
2)
Coyne and de Voogd (2012). Are we witnessing the decline effect in the Type D personality literature? What can be learned? Journal of Psychosomatic Research 73(6):401-407