Distressed personality (Type D) - its role in health and sport - report from research review

Abstract Introduction: Type D personality or distressed personality is a construct provided by Johan Denollet. It refers to people who: a) generally experience negative emotions and their affect is dominated by them; b) restrict themselves from self-expression in social situations. Type D is mainly studied as a predictor of somatic diseases, especially in cardiology. Aim (Objective): The article reviews scientific papers including Type D in relation to health and sport from 3 databases to present the state of the art in this area. Materials and methods: Three scientific databases were searched (PsycARTICLES, ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE and MEDLINE). Key words putted in databases searching engines were: "distressed personality" OR "type d" AND "health"; "distressed personality" OR "type d" AND "sport". The main inclusion criterion for a research was its subject - related to Type D. Results: Seventy eight research were included into extended analysis. Forty eight studies were conducted on unhealthy subjects (mainly on cardiac patients but also on cancer survivors, irritable bowel syndrome patients, patients with diabetes). The results of those research generally confirm the relation between Type D personality and poorer somatic and mental health. Only one research was indirectly related to sport. But there were no single research specifically on people who do sports (professionally or are in the training stage of their carrier). Conclusion: There are many studies on distressed personality, but there is a lack of research conducted on athletes. Such research might be useful in creating programs for athletes who have difficulties in coping with stress