Objective: To examine the psychometric properties of the Type D Scale (DS14) in mainland China.

Methods: One hundred and seventy-eight coronary heart disease (CHD) patients and 376 healthy controls were recruited. They completed the Chinese version of the DS14, the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale, the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale, the Perceived Social Support Scale, and the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale. Thirty-five of the patients were also rated by their family members on the DS14.

Results: The two-factor structure of the DS14 was replicated. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition (SI) subscales were 0.90 and 0.85, respectively, for the CHD patients and 0.87 and 0.69, respectively, for the healthy subjects. The correlations between the self-reports and the observer ratings (r(NA)=0.56, r(SI)=0.69) supported satisfactory consensual validity. Good convergent validity was shown by the expected correlations and the scale-level factor analyses of NA with depression and negative affect, and SI with perceived social support and social avoidance and distress. With the standardized cut-off of NA >or=10 and SI >or=10, 31.4% of the CHD patients and 31.9% of the healthy controls in China were defined as having a Type D personality.

Conclusions: The results indicate that the Type D construct is valid and reliable in Chinese populations. The Chinese version of the DS14 shows good psychometric properties. The prevalence of Type D personality in China falls within the range of what has been found in Western countries, at least for CHD patients. This study indicates that it is possible to use the DS14 among Chinese populations in future cross-cultural studies.