Type D Personality and Health Behaviors in People Living with Obesity

Considering that health behaviors and personality traits play an important role in the formation of health attitudes, the main objective of this study was to evaluate the relations that occur between type D personality and health behaviors in a group of obese patients.

443 adult patients with BMI ≥ 30 kg/m², who had been hospitalized in selected hospital facilities in the Silesian Voivodeship (Poland), participated in the study. Respondents completed three standardized questionnaires-the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale, version A (MHLC-A), the Inventory of Health Behaviors (IZZ), and the Type D Scale (DS-14).

Patients with type D personality were characterized by the least effective mental attitudes and preventive behaviors, and differed significantly from the other personality types (intermediate and non-type D). Type D personality increased the risk of initiating improper health behaviors by more than five times. Regarding the sense of health control, patients with type D personality had significantly lower scores for the Internal Dimension subscale (21.3 ± 3.1) and higher for the Powerful Others Dimension subscale (24.0 ± 2.6), compared to patients with intermediate and non-type D personality. Proper health behaviors correlated with an internal sense of health control; the strongest correlation, defined as a medium, was with Preventive Behaviors (R = 0.42; p < 0.0001).

Type D personality was associated with poorer attitudes towards health. Among obese respondents with a type D personality, there was a significantly higher prevalence of those who believed that their health status was a consequence of chance events.