Assessment of Depressive Tendency, Coping Strategies, and Type D Personality in Japanese Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

Abstract

Background : Type D personality, characterized by social inhibition and negative affectivity, is a psychological risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). This study aims to identify self-ratings of depression and its associations with coping strategies, Type D personality, and with sociodemographic or clinical factors among Japanese patients with CAD.
Methods : Participants were CAD patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention. The Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale, the Type D Personality Scale, and the Tri-axial Coping Scale 24 were used to survey the presence of depressive tendency, Type D personality, and type of coping strategy, respectively. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify characteristics associated with depressive tendency.
Results : Among 100 respondents who returned fully completed questionnaires (effective response rate : 92.6％), 59 were found to be depressed, and 44 presented with Type D personality. The self-ratings of depression were significantly associated with Type D personality (odds ratio [OR]＝2.78, 95％ confidence interval [CI] [1.06, 7.24], P＝0.037), and inversely associated with full-time work (OR＝0.23, 95％ CI [0.08, 0.64], P＝0.005). Analysis of the types of coping strategy revealed that abandonment or resignation coping style was significantly associated with depressive tendency (OR＝1.33, 95％ CI [1.07, 1.65], P＝0.010).
Conclusions : CAD patients with higher depressive tendency are significantly more likely to display a Type D personality, to employ abandonment or resignation coping strategies, and are less likely to be in full-time employment. Employment of strategies to prevent negative coping behavior could be beneficial to prevent future depressive tendency in CAD patients with Type D personality.