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DS 14 is more likely to measure depression rather than a personality disposition in patients with acute coronary syndrome
Author(s) -
Ossola Paolo,
De Panfilis Chiara,
Tonna Matteo,
Ardissino Diego,
Marchesi Carlo
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1467-9450
pISSN - 0036-5564
DOI - 10.1111/sjop.12244
Subject(s) - psychology , disposition , depression (economics) , personality , clinical psychology , measure (data warehouse) , acute coronary syndrome , psychiatry , social psychology , myocardial infarction , economics , macroeconomics , database , computer science
It has been suggested that Type D Personality is a risk factor for acute coronary syndrome ( ACS ) and the DS 14 has been developed for its assessment. However, some of the items on the DS 14 seem to evaluate depressive symptoms rather than personality features. Therefore, the present study aims to verify whether an overlap exists between the constructs of Type D Personality and depression. Three‐hundred‐and‐four consecutive patients who were both presenting their first ACS and had no history of major depression completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale ( HADS ) and the DS 14 to assess Type D personality at baseline and have been re‐evaluated at 1, 2, 4, 6, 9 and 12‐month follow‐ups. Out of 304 subjects (80.6% males), 40 were diagnosed as depressed. An exploratory factor analysis of HADS and the DS 14 in the second month revealed that four out of seven items on the depressive subscale of HADS ( HADS ‐D) and six out of seven items on the Negative Affectivity ( NA ) subscale of the DS 14 segregated on the same factor. Results were verified by a Partial Confirmatory Factor Analysis performed at the twelfth month when most of the patients achieved complete remission from the depressive episode. Temporal stability was poor for NA and Type D Personality and these construct co‐vary with HADS ‐D over time. Our data suggests that NA and depression are overlapping constructs, supporting the idea that the DS 14 measures depressed features, rather than a personality disposition.