Abstract:
This investigation presents the results from the empirical study of the effects of risk and
protective factors in the self-regulation of the rehabilitatory process in cardio-vascular diseases.
The empirical study has a longitudinal design and has been conducted in the UMPHAT St.
Ekaterina, Sofia in two phases – preoperative phase (Study 1) and postoperative phase (Study 2
– retesting). In theoretical terms, the following is presented: 1. the transition from the traditional
uni-dimensional to the necessary multidimensional explanatory models for predicting the cardiovascular
pathogenesis; 2. the development of the Self-regulation model of Leventhal for illness
representations (SRM Leventhal, 1970; Leventhal, Meyer & Nerenz, 1980; Leventhal et al.,
1984; Cameron & Leventhal, 2003) to its contemporary enriched variations in the The strength
model of self-regulation (Schwarzer, 2008; Hagger, 2009; Sniehotta, 2009) and in the Temporal
Self-Regulation Model (Temporal Self-Regulation Theory) (Cameron, 2010; Hall et al. 2010;
Salis, 2010).
The Type D Personality or the dispositional fixative of the ‘D-istressed’ personality is presented
based on the stable positioning of the Negative affectivity and the Social inhibition (Denollet, 1998a,
2000, 2005; Denollet & Van Heck, 2001; Pedersen & Denollet, 2003).
The empirical study that has been conducted proves our leading investigative hypothesis:
patients, in whom high levels of the studied risk factors were registered – Cardiac depression,
Clinical anxiety, Negative affectivity and Social inhibition of the Type D Personality – demonstrate,
respectively, lower levels of adaptation in handling heart diseases and adaptation to the necessary
interventions.
For the purposes of the study, a primary adaptation of the specialized for the cardio-vascular
diseases psychological questionnaires and scales was conducted – Type D personality – Scale 14 (DS
14, 2004) of Denollet et al., Cardiac Depression Scale (CDS, 1993) of Hare et al. and Short Illness
Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ) of Broadbent et al., 2006.
