Abstract

The present study aims at exploring the prevalence of type D personality (distressed personality) and the levels of anxiety (trait) and depression in a sample of cardiac patients in comparison to their non-patient counterparts in Jordan. To achieve the objectives of the study, an adapted form of type D personality scale-DS14, Trait Anxiety Scale and Beck Inventory were utilized. The study sample consisted of 309 individuals; 306 of which cardiac patients (73 males and 83 females) whose illness is not due to congenital causes and 153 non-patients (83 males and 70 females) as a comparative group, who were chosen from different vocational sectors in Amman and the suburbs. The results of the study revealed a significantly higher percentage of type D personality among cardiac patients compared to their non-cardiac counterparts. In addition, the percentage of cardiac patients who suffer from high to moderate levels of anxiety were significantly higher than the that of non-patients, while the percentage of non-patients who had low levels of anxiety and depression was significantly higher than that of cardiac patients. In all cases the values of chi2 were smaller than the significant level of α=0.05. The results of the binary logistic regression analysis revealed that type D personality, anxiety and depression were statistically significant at a significance level α =0.05, which indicates the predictive ability of these variables for heart disease.