Investigating the Relationship between Alexithymia and Type D personality, Mediated by Perceived Stress on Blood Pressure of Heart Patients

Abstract

Aim: The present study aimed to determine the relationship between Alexithymia and type D personality with the mediation of stress on the blood pressure of heart patients. Method: The research was descriptive and correlational and its statistical population consisted of heart patients who visited Imam Reza Hospital in Mashhad in the winter of 2014. Sampling was done by a convenience method and 200 out of 623 patients, who visited the hospital, were selected and responded to Perceived Stress Questionnaire by Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein (1983), type D personality questionnaire, and the Persian version of Toronto Alexithymia Scale by Besharat (2007). We analyzed the results using the path analysis model and correlation coefficient. Results: The results indicated that type D personality and Alexithymia, mediated by perceived stress, could predict hypertension. The path analysis pattern was approved, hence, the pathway of personality D to blood pressure with a standard coefficient of 0.24, and the pathway of stress to blood pressure with a standard coefficient of 0.22 were significant but the pathway of personality D to stress with an effect size of 0.11 and the pathway of Alexithymia to stress with an effect size of 0.02 were not significant. It should be noted that there was no causal effect of personality on stress, Alexithymia on blood pressure, and Alexithymia on stress in the structural pattern, and there was a correlation. Conclusion: The psychological components such as type D personality, Alexithymia, and perceived stress could be effective in increasing chronic physical diseases such as hypertension and other heart diseases.