The relationship between type D personality and perceived social support in myocardial infarction patients

BACKGROUND Type D personality is based on two global and stable personality traits, including negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition (SI). The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between type D personality and perceived social support in post myocardial infarction (MI) patients. METHODS One hundred seventy six consecutive patients following MI admitted to the cardiac care unit (CCU) of nine hospitals in Isfahan, Iran from April to September 2006 were selected based on the inclusive and exclusive criteria. The patients completed the Persian version of type D personality scale and the Persian version of multidimensional scale of perceived social support (MSPSS). Also, demographic and medical questionnaire was completed for each patient. Chi-squared test, t-test and MANOVA were used to analyze the data. RESULTS The findings indicated that 35.8% patients (35.8 %) were classified as type D. The results of MANOVA showed that type D patients were significantly different from non-type D patients (F = 8.72, p = 0.0001) on MSPSS scores and on all dimensions including family subscale (F = 11.52, p = 0.001), friends subscale (F= 16.16, p = 0.0001) and significant others subscale (F = 5.04, p = 0.026). CONCLUSIONS Type D personality substantially affects the way MI patients perceive availability of social support from different sources including family, friends, and significant others. One implication of this finding may be to develop tailor-made interventions for MI patients with type D.