Abstract

Objective: Type D personality, which is defined by both negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition (SI), is associated with adverse outcomes in cardiac patients. The validity and reliability of the Type D Scale (DS_14) have been confirmed in various countries, particularly among cardiac patients. The purpose of the present study was to cross-validate the DS_14 in Turkish hemodialysis patients.

Method: One hundred one patients, who had received maintenance hemodialysis for more than 3 months at a center in north-west region of Turkey, completed the Turkish version of the DS_14. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD) was administered to establish discriminant validity. The DS_14 was re-administered 1 month after first administration in order to examine the stability of the DS_14 in 100 patients.

Results: The two-factor structure of the DS_14 and the internal consistency of the NA (? = 0.82) and SI (? = 0.81) subscales were confirmed. Both NA and SI were found to correlate positively with anxiety and depression scores. The DS_14 was stable over a 1-month period (r = 0.84/0.78; p

Key words: cross-validation, hemodialysis, negative affectivity, social inhibition, type D personality