Prevalence of type d personality, depression and their association amongst college going students of Delhi

Introduction: Type D personality has been observed to be associated with mental health issues later in life. Methods: This was a descriptive, cross sectional study conducted among college students of Delhi University. A sample size of 419 was calculated by taking into account the prevalence rate of negative affectivity as 55.3%, relative error of 5% in formula 4pq/l2 and a non-response rate of 10%. Type D personality was assessed by means of 14-item questionnaire based on DS-14. Those scoring high on both social inhibition and negative affectivity taking cut off value as 10 or >10 were considered as type D personality. Also, PHQ9 was administered for depression. Participants were selected from 5 Co-educational colleges under Delhi University from North Campus. 100 questionnaires per college were given to collect the relevant information. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed, of which 422 completed questionnaires were received. Data was analyzed using SPSS licensed version 21, Chi- square test for association was used and p<0.05 was considered for statistically significant association. Results: Prevalence of type D personality was 39.6%. There was no statistically significant association between personality type and whether students stayed at home with parents or in hostel and paying guest accommodation or the course pursued by them in college (p>0.05). Based on PHQ9, 97(23%) had moderate and 18(4.3%) had severe depression. There was a statistically significant association between Type D personality and depression amongst college going students (p<0.05). Conclusion: Both type D personality and depression are common in college going students and also there is a statistically significant association between the two.