Type D personality, cognitive illness perception, depression, approach coping, and self-management among older adults in long-term care hospitals: Structural equation modeling

•Nurses should encourage personality-based self-management among older adults.•Type D personalities are more vulnerable and require greater nursing assistance.•Self-regulation strategies improve older adults’ cognitive illness perception.•Self-regulation reduces depression among older adults in long-term care hospitals.•Self-regulation encourages approach-coping strategies among older adults. This study aimed to construct a structural equation model to explore the relationship between Type D personality, cognitive illness perception, depression, approach-coping, and self-management. The study was conducted at two long-term care hospitals with 300 or more beds in Korea. Participants were 287 older patients from whom data were collected from February 17 to March 10, 2021, using a structured questionnaire comprising items on the following variables: Type D personality, cognitive illness perception, depression, approach coping, and self-management. Type D personality (β=-.601, p=.001), cognitive illness perception (β =.692, p