Coping Mediates the Association Between Type D Personality and Perceived Health in Chinese Patients with Coronary Heart Disease

BACKGROUND: Increasing evidence show that Type D personality is a risk factor for morbidity, mortality, and quality of life of patients with coronary vascular disease. Few studies examined coping as a potential behavioral mechanism to explain the harmful effect of Type D personality. PURPOSE: This study examined the association between Type D personality, coping, and perceived health among Chinese patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). METHODS: One hundred seventeen CHD patients completed the assessments on Type D personality, coping, perceived severity of CHD, and morale. RESULTS: There was no difference on severity of coronary artery stenosis between Type D and non-Type D patients. Compared to the non-Type D patients, the Type D patients perceived higher severity of CHD (5.31 ± 2.41 versus 4.45 ± 2.17, p < 0.05) and lower morale (12.67 ± 4.71 versus 15.00 ± 4.43, p < 0.05), and used less confrontation (16.90 ± 5.39 versus 20.88 ± 4.95, p < 0.001) and more acceptance–resignation coping (10.16 ± 3.50 versus 8.35 ± 3.48, p < 0.05). Mediation analyses showed that confrontation coping mediated the association between Type D personality and perceived severity of disease, and acceptance–resignation coping mediated the association between Type D personality and morale after controlling for age, gender, and clinical variables. CONCLUSION: The Type D patients used maladaptive coping in response to disease. These coping strategies fully mediated the association between Type D personality and perceived health. Implications for integrating coping training into the intervention for patients with a Type D personality are discussed.