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C R Cloninger

Publications and source records attributed to C R Cloninger.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Personality characteristics in obesity and relationship with successful weight loss.

OBJECTIVE: Personality influences lifestyle behaviors. Therefore, certain personality traits could contribute to obesity and the response to behaviorally based weight loss therapy. PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to test the hypothesis that personality characteristics differ between lean and obese persons in the community, obese persons in the community and obese persons seeking weight loss therapy by enrolling in a comprehensive weight loss program, and in obese persons who were successful and unsuccessful in achieving behavioral therapy-induced weight loss. METHODS: The Temperament and Character Inventory was administered to 264 lean (body mass index (BMI) <25 kg/m(2)) and 56 obese (BMI> or =35 kg/m(2)) subjects from the St Louis community and 183 obese patients (BMI=44+/-10 kg/m(2)) enrolled in the Washington University Weight Management Program (WUWMP), which involved weekly group behavioral therapy and diet education sessions for 22 weeks. RESULTS: Compared with lean subjects, obese subjects in the community scored higher in novelty seeking (19.7+/-5.9 vs 16.2+/-6.0, P<0.05), lower in Persistence (4.1+/-1.8 vs 4.8+/-1.7, P<0.05) and lower in self-directedness (32.1+/-7.6 vs 34.3+/-6.6, P<0.05.) Patients enrolled in the WUWMP scored higher than obese persons in the general population in both Reward Dependence (17.1+/-4.2 vs 15.7+/-4.3, P<0.05) and cooperativeness (36.9+/-5.4 vs 34.5+/-6.2, P<0.05). Patients who were successful in losing weight (>10% weight loss) after 22 weeks of behavioral therapy scored lower in novelty seeking than those who were unsuccessful in losing weight (<5% weight loss) (17.6+/-5.9 vs 20.2+/-5.9, P<0.05). DISCUSSION: These results suggest that personality traits differ between lean and obese persons, and between obese persons who enroll and who do not enroll in a comprehensive weight management program. Moreover, high scores in novelty seeking are associated with decreased success in achieving behavioral therapy-induced weight loss.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed2005

The Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R): psychometric characteristics of the French version.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the psychometric characteristics of a modified version of the Cloninger's personality questionnaire, the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R). METHOD: A 482-subject sample, including clinical and non-clinical subjects, completed the TCI-R. We performed principal component analyses and explored the factorial structure of the questionnaire, and the internal consistency of each dimension. RESULTS: The factorial structure of the TCI-R was well defined as expected and similar to those shown with the TCI. Robust factors were obtained for Reward Dependence and Persistence in the TCI-R, even more clearly than in the original TCI. All dimensions obtained higher alpha Cronbach coefficients with the TCI-R than with the TCI. We obtained highly satisfying reliability coefficients in test-retest and TCI/TCI-R comparisons. CONCLUSION: The TCI-R seems to have similar psychometric and feasibility characteristics as those of the initial version, but with significant improvements in terms of factorial structure and internal consistency of most dimensions.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Temperament, character, and personality disorders: etiologic, diagnostic, treatment issues.

OBJECTIVE: In this paper, we explore the underlying dimensional structure of personality disorder, propose a novel approach to its diagnosis, and outline our concepts of its etiology and treatment based on the seven factor psychobiological model of temperament and character. METHOD: Temperament and character traits were evaluated in a consecutive series of 109 psychiatric out-patients, with or without personality disorder and varying mood and anxiety states. RESULTS: Low scores on character dimensions consistently correlated with high symptom counts for personality disorder. Each subtype of personality disorder created a unique combination of correlations with the four temperament traits. CONCLUSION: Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) temperament and character traits efficiently diagnose personality disorder and differentiate its individual subtypes. Character traits are used to diagnose the presence and the severity of personality disorder, whereas temperament traits are used for differential diagnosis. The distinction between temperament and character provides an attractive theoretical basis for etiological postulates and treatment of personality disorder.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Evidence for the multigenic inheritance of schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is assumed to have complex inheritance because of its high prevalence and sporadic familial transmission. Findings of linkage on different chromosomes in various studies corroborate this assumption. It is not known whether these findings represent heterogeneous inheritance, in which various ethnic groups inherit illness through different major gene effects, or multigenic inheritance, in which affected individuals inherit several common genetic abnormalities. This study therefore examined inheritance of schizophrenia at different genetic loci in a nationally collected European American and African American sample. Seventy-seven families were previously genotyped at 458 markers for the NIMH Schizophrenia Genetics Initiative. Initial genetic analysis tested a dominant model, with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, depressed type, as the affected phenotype. The families showed one genome-wide significant linkage (Z = 3.97) at chromosome 15q14, which maps within 1 cM of a previous linkage at the alpha 7-nicotinic receptor gene. Chromosome 10p13 showed suggestive linkage (Z = 2.40). Six others (6q21, 9q32, 13q32, 15q24, 17p12, 20q13) were positive, with few differences between the two ethnic groups. The probability of each family transmitting schizophrenia through two genes is greater than expected from the combination of the independent segregation of each gene. Two trait-locus linkage analysis supports a model in which genetic alleles associated with schizophrenia are relatively common in the general population and affected individuals inherit risk for illness through at least two different loci.

Alleles↗
PubMed2001

Visual P300 and the self-directedness scale of the Temperament and Character Inventory.

Reduced amplitude of the P300 event-related brain potential has been associated with several psychopathological conditions and is thought to represent brain dysfunction in such conditions. Predisposition to personality disorders and psychopathology in general is also associated with low scores on the self-directedness (SD) scale of the Temperament and Character Inventory. The present preliminary study investigated the relationship between amplitudes of P300 elicited by rare target stimuli in a visual oddball task and SD scores in 58 healthy participants. P300 was found to be significantly reduced in subjects with low SD, as supported by correlational analysis and by comparison of groups formed on the basis of SD scores. This finding may be relevant to prior findings indicating reduced P300 amplitudes in a variety of psychopathological conditions and suggests that a common vulnerability factor, reflected in the low SD personality scores, may contribute to the P300 reduction in psychiatric populations.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Linkage disequilibrium for schizophrenia at the chromosome 15q13-14 locus of the alpha7-nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit gene (CHRNA7).

The transmission/disequilibrium test was used for fine mapping of the linkage of schizophrenia to the chromosome 15q13-14 region, the site of a candidate gene, the alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit gene (CHRNA7), in parent-child triads from the NIMH Schizophrenia Genetics Initiative families. This candidate gene was identified from neurobiological studies of deficits in schizophrenics of the inhibitory gating of the P50 auditory evoked potential. The neurobiological deficit was also used as a phenotype for subsequent linkage analysis. In the present study, significant genotype-wise disequilibrium (P < 0.007) was found at D15S165, a polymorphic simple sequence marker physically located within 1 megabase of both CHRNA7 and a partially duplicated, expressed sequence that includes exons 5-10 of CHRNA7. Replication of this result was found in an additional set of families. The results support this region as a chromosomal location involved in the genetic transmission of schizophrenia.

Chromosomes, Human, Pair 15↗
PubMed2001

Serotonergic pathway genes and subtypes of alcoholism: association studies.

Disturbances of the serotonergic pathway have been implicated in many psychiatric disorders, including alcoholism, aggression, schizophrenia and depression. The personality dimension of harm avoidance is correlated positively with the activity of mesolimbic serotonergic neurons. The goal of this study was to determine the role of the genes in this pathway in the development of type II alcoholism. A sample of alcoholics and normal controls were screened with the variations in tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH), serotonin receptors (5-HT2A and 5-HT2C), serotonin transporter (5-HTT), and monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) genes. The results of association studies for type II alcoholics were the most significant with 5-HTT (P = 0.011) and MAO-A (P = 0.029) genes. However, after correction for multiple comparisons, none of the results reached the significance level. These data indicate that the genes in the serotonergic pathway may be involved in the development of type II alcoholism but the gene effects are very small.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed2001

Traumatic brain injury and schizophrenia in members of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder pedigrees.

OBJECTIVE: Schizophrenia following a traumatic brain injury could be a phenocopy of genetic schizophrenia or the consequence of a gene-environment interaction. Alternatively, traumatic brain injury and schizophrenia could be spuriously associated if those who are predisposed to develop schizophrenia have greater amounts of trauma for other reasons. The authors investigated the relationship between traumatic brain injury and psychiatric diagnoses in a large group of subjects from families with at least two biologically related first-degree relatives with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder. METHOD: The Diagnostic Interview for Genetic Studies was used to determine history of traumatic brain injury and diagnosis for 1,275 members of multiplex bipolar disorder pedigrees and 565 members of multiplex schizophrenia pedigrees. RESULTS: Rates of traumatic brain injury were significantly higher for those with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression than for those with no mental illness. However, multivariate analysis of within-pedigree data showed that mental illness was related to traumatic brain injury only in the schizophrenia pedigrees. Independent of diagnoses, family members of those with schizophrenia were more likely to have had traumatic brain injury than were members of the bipolar disorder pedigrees. The members of the schizophrenia pedigrees also failed to show the gender difference for traumatic brain injury (more common in men than in women) that was expected and was present in the bipolar disorder pedigrees. Subjects with a schizophrenia diagnosis who were members of the bipolar disorder pedigrees (and thus had less genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia) were less likely to have had traumatic brain injury (4.5%) than were subjects with schizophrenia who were members of the schizophrenia pedigrees (and who had greater genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia) (19.6%). CONCLUSIONS: Members of the schizophrenia pedigrees, even those without a schizophrenia diagnosis, had greater exposure to traumatic brain injury compared to members of the bipolar disorder pedigrees. Within the schizophrenia pedigrees, traumatic brain injury was associated with a greater risk of schizophrenia, consistent with synergistic effects between genetic vulnerability for schizophrenia and traumatic brain injury. Posttraumatic-brain-injury schizophrenia in multiplex schizophrenia pedigrees does not appear to be a phenocopy of the genetic disorder.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Functional variant in the DRD2 receptor promoter region and subtypes of alcoholism.

Dopaminergic pathway genes are considered as candidate genes for several neuropsychiatric diseases including severe alcoholism. Since 1990, there have been numerous reports of conflicting association studies of the Taq I A allele of the dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) gene and alcoholism. Functional and structural variations in candidate genes offer more direct evaluation of their role in the development of a disorder. To determine the role of such variations in the DRD2 gene in the development of alcoholism subtypes, we screened a sample of 173 alcoholics and 88 normal controls with the A-241G and -141C Ins/Del variations in the promoter region and C311G variation in exon 7 of the DRD2 gene. Comparison of alcoholics with normal controls for allele frequency differences of these three variations was negative. Allele frequency differences of the two variations in the promoter region between type II alcoholics, alcoholics with medical complications, and normal controls were not significant. There was linkage disequilibrium only between -141 Ins/Del and Taq I D polymorphisms. We conclude that the functional and structural variations in DRD2 gene do not play a major role in the development of alcoholism subtypes in our sample.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed2000

Family-based study of the association of the dopamine D2 receptor gene (DRD2) with habitual smoking.

A recent study showed an association between the dopamine D2 receptor gene (DRD2) and smoking. The purpose of this study was to determine if the familial transmission of smoking is linked to variation at the DRD2 locus in a genetically informative sample. Subjects were identified in alcohol treatment centers and their relatives were recruited for study. All subjects were interviewed to assess alcohol dependence, smoking habits, and psychiatric disorders. Two polymorphisms within the DRD2 gene were analyzed, including the TaqIA polymorphism. The sample consisted of 138 nuclear families with at least one offspring with habitual smoking, and analysis was by the transmission disequilibrium test (TDT), which avoids problems due to population stratification. There was no significant difference in the frequency between DRD2 alleles transmitted and not transmitted to habitual smokers. There also was no evidence for unequal transmission of DRD2 alleles for the phenotypes "ever smoker" or comorbid alcohol dependence and habitual smoking. This study does not support linkage of the DRD2 with smoking.

Chromosome Mapping↗
PubMed2000

Age of onset as a discriminator between alcoholic subtypes in a treatment-seeking outpatient population.

Subtyping alcoholics may provide a more accurate guide as to the course and character of the disease. Classifications of different ages of onset of problem drinking have so far resulted in categorical inconsistencies. In the past, hospital-based alcoholics have over-represented those most severely ill, and comprehensive evaluations of psychopathology for discriminating between alcoholic subtypes have been infrequent. In a heterogeneous treatment-seeking, outpatient, alcoholic population, we tested the hypothesis that age of onset represents a continuum of disease, and that greater severity of psychopathology is associated with lower ages of onset. Using a standard questionnaire, 253 male and female treatment-seeking alcoholics were stratified according to specific ages of onset: a) < 20 years; b) 20-25 years, and c) > 25 years. These age of onset groups were compared on alcohol severity and craving, family history, childhood behavior, personality, hostility, overt aggression, mood, and social functioning. Symptom severity and age of onset were negatively correlated, and the 20-25-year onset group usually had intermediate scores. The < 20 year onset group was characterized by greater severity of alcohol-related problems, family history, childhood behavioral problems, craving, hostility, antisocial traits, mood disturbance, and poor social functioning. Alcoholics with an earlier age of onset have relatively greater psychopathology than those of later onset. While the preponderance of psychopathology among those in the < 20-year onset group could be conceptualized as a clinical "subtype," such a characterization would not define an entirely homogeneous category. Yet, this clinical characterization would be clinically important if specific age of onset levels were found to be differentially sensitive to pharmacological and/or psychological treatments.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Genetic and state variables of neurocognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia: a twin study.

To characterize the familiality of cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia, we studied performance on three tasks (visuospatial attention; visuolinguistic conflict, arrow-word; and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test [WCST]) by monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs discordant for schizophrenia. The subject sample consisted of six MZ twin pairs, nine DZ twin pairs, and one MZ and one DZ nonschizophrenia cotwin of a patient with schizophrenia. There were two sources of cognitive dysfunction: a nonheritable, state component and a heritable, trait component. Deficits surfaced during the WCST in nonschizophrenia MZ cotwins; this impairment resolved following training in nonschizophrenia MZ cotwins, but not in the probands with schizophrenia, who performed abnormally in all tasks. The results suggest that nonheritable protective factors modulate the specific, plastic, and sometimes subtle neurocognitive deficits related to the schizophrenia genotype.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

A practical way to diagnosis personality disorder: a proposal.

General criteria for the diagnosis of personality disorder are provided based on rating a few items describing four core features of personality disorder: (a) low Self-directedness, (b) low Cooperativeness, (c) low Affective Stability, and (d) low Self-transcendence. These core features correspond closely with the basic concept of personality disorder in DSM-IV and are based on specific items easy for clinicians to rate in a short time. Criteria are also provided for rating severity of personality disorganization and for subtyping based on a profile of three additional dimensions corresponding to core features of DSM-IV clusters A, B, and C. This approach should facilitate efficient screening in clinical practice, encourage an understanding of the development of comorbidity as a self-organizing process, and provide a theory-driven basis for therapeutic planning with drugs and psychotherapy.

Comorbidity↗
PubMed2000

Diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder with the MMPI: PK scale scores in somatization disorder.

Clinic patients with diagnoses of either major depression or somatization disorder were given the MMPI. Women with somatization disorder had high scores on Keane's MMPI scale (PK) for posttraumatic stress disorder. Following the procedure for the MMPI-2 (46 of the 49 PK items and MMPI-2 norms), 59% of the women with somatization disorder and 21% of the women with major depression would have T scores > or = 65 on the MMPI-2 scale although none of them were known to have developed psychiatric disorder after exposure to a life threatening event. The PK scale has little use in the differential diagnosis of women patients with somatization disorder.

Diagnosis, Differential↗
PubMed1999

Suggestive linkage of chromosome 10p to schizophrenia is not due to transmission ratio distortion.

The genome scan of the European-American schizophrenia families from the Human Genetics Initiative of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) reported a suggestive linkage to chromosome 10p. Subsequently, Paterson and Petronis [1999] reported evidence for transmission ratio distortion on 10p to females. They suggested that transmission ratio distortion to females might have created spurious evidence for linkage to 10p. To address this issue, we reanalyzed our 10p data using only male-male affected sibling pairs. The two chromosome 10p markers that gave the most evidence for linkage in our prior report continued to show evidence for linkage: D10S1423 (NPL Z = 3.0, P = 0.001) and its neighbor D10S582 (NPL Z = 2.9, P = 0.002). These data suggest that our prior report of suggestive linkage of schizophrenia to markers on 10p cannot be attributed to the transmission ratio distortion to females reported by Paterson and Petronis. Am. J. Med. Genet. (Neuropsychiatr. Genet.) 88:607-608, 1999.

Chromosomes, Human, Pair 10↗
PubMed1999

Relationship between serotonin and the temperament and character inventory.

The unified biosocial theory of personality, proposed by Cloninger, conceptualises personality as a combination of heritable, neurobiologically based traits (temperament dimensions), and traits reflecting sociocultural learning (character dimensions). The temperament dimensions are thought to be related to activity in specific central neurotransmitter systems. The relationship of the dimensions of the Temperament and Character Inventory, particularly harm avoidance (HA), and platelet 5-HT2 receptor sensitivity was investigated in a sample of undergraduate student volunteers (N = 49). Serotonin-receptor binding results in Ca2+ release from intracellular stores. The concentration of serotonin required to produce half maximal Ca2+ response (EC50) is indicative of 5-HT2 receptor sensitivity such that the lower the EC50 serotonin concentration, the greater the 5-HT2 receptor sensitivity. A significant inverse correlation was found between HA and EC50 (r = -0.644, P < 0.001). Self-directedness was also significantly correlated with EC50 (r = 0.391, P = 0.005). Novelty seeking, a personality trait similar to sensation seeking, was not significantly correlated with serotonin.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Description of the Genetic Analysis Workshop 11 Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism.

Problem 1 of Genetic Analysis Workshop 11 consists of data from a family study of the genetics of alcoholism and related traits contributed by the six centers making up the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism sponsored by the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA). The family data included 1,214 members of 105 pedigrees ascertained for having three or more individuals affected with alcoholism. Data available to workshop participants included clinical phenotypes, personality measures, smoking behavior, event-related potentials, platelet monamine oxidase B activity, and a genome scan of 296 markers.

Alcoholism↗