Prediction of Mental Disorders Based on Type D personality in College Students

Type D personality is characterized by vulnerability to disease and includes two dimensions of negative affect and social inhibition. Recent studies have focused on the role of type D personality in physical and psychological consequences. So the aim of present study was to predict mental disorders based on type D personality. The research method was descriptive and correlational. The statistical population included students of Persian Gulf University of Bushehr, from which a sample of 200 people was selected by sampling method available. The type D personality questionnaire (DS-14) and a checklist of symptoms of mental disorders (SCL-90-R) were used. The results showed that the average of type D didn’t differ between two sexes, different educational levels and physically and non-physically ill patients, but it was different in different marital statuses. There was no difference in the mean of mental disorders between two sexes and between patients and non-patients, but there was a difference between different educational levels and different marital status. The relationship between type D and its two dimensions with the overall score of mental disorders and its 9 dimensions was positively significant. type D personality is able to explain 39% of the variance of mental disorders and the negative affect dimension is able to explain 42% of the variance of mental disorders. Due to the predictive power of type D personality in causing mental disorders, it seems that manipulating type D in college students can reduce the psychological problems in these individuals.