Type D personality is related to cardiovascular and neuroendocrine reactivity to acute stress.
OBJECTIVE
The relationship between Type D personality (the joint tendency towards negative affectivity [NA] and social inhibition [SI]) and laboratory indices of cardiovascular health was examined.


METHODS
173 undergraduates (86 male) completed a stress protocol involving a mental arithmetic task with harassment. Blood pressure, heart rate (HR), and salivary cortisol were measured both prior to and during the task.


RESULTS
The relationships between personality and both resting and reactivity levels were examined. Results indicated that socially inhibited men demonstrated heightened blood pressure reactivity. NA was related to dampened HR change during the stress task in men. Correlational analyses indicated that both Type D dimensions were associated with greater cortisol reactivity to stress; however, results no longer remained significant in more stringent regression analyses.


CONCLUSIONS
Findings are consistent with the noted relationship between Type D and cardiovascular disease (CVD), and suggest a possible pathway to disease via an association with physiological hyperreactivity.
Habra
Martine E
ME
Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, V6T 1Z4, Vancouver, BC, Canada. mhabra@interchange.ubc.ca
Linden
Wolfgang
W
Anderson
Jeremy C
JC
Weinberg
Joanne
J
D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D010551:Personality; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D012737:Sex Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis
D006854:Hydrocortisone