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:
- Negative Affectivity = sum of scores on items 2 + 4 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 12+ 13
- Social inhibition = sum of scores on items 1 [reversed] + 3 [reversed] + 6 + 8 + 10 + 11 + 14
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+ |
