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PubMedDate not supplied

Longitudinal comparison of depressive personality disorder and dysthymic disorder.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have compared the related diagnostic constructs of depressive personality disorder (DPD) and dysthymic disorder (DD). The authors attempted to replicate findings of Klein and Shih in longitudinally followed patients with personality disorder or major depressive disorder (MDD) in the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study. METHODS: Subjects (N = 665) were evaluated at baseline and over 2 years (n = 546) by reliably trained clinical interviewers using semistructured interviews and self-report personality questionnaires. RESULTS: Only 44 subjects (24.6% of 179 DPD and 49.4% of 89 early-onset dysthymic subjects) met criteria for both disorders at baseline. Depressive personality disorder was associated with increased comorbidity of some axis I anxiety disorders and other axis II diagnoses, particularly avoidant (71.5%) and borderline (55.9%) personality disorders. Depressive personality disorder was associated with low positive and high negative affectivity on dimensional measures of temperament. Depressive personality disorder subjects had lower likelihood of remission of baseline MDD at 2-year follow-up, whereas DD subjects did not. The DPD diagnosis appeared unstable over 2 years of follow-up, as only 31% (n = 47) of 154 subjects who had DPD at baseline and also had follow-up assessment met criteria on blind retesting. LIMITATIONS: Results from this sample may not generalize to other populations. CONCLUSIONS: Depressive personality disorder and dysthymic disorder appear to be related but differ in diagnostic constructs. Its moderating effect on MDD and predicted relationship to measures of temperament support the validity of DPD, but its diagnostic instability raises questions about its course, utility, and measurement.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Premorbid personality and psychopathological dimensions in first-episode psychosis.

BACKGROUND: Broadening our knowledge of the relationship between personality and psychopathological dimensions in psychosis would provide insights into the nature of their underlying pathophysiology. Research, to date, has been carried out in chronic samples and the possibility that the personality assessment may have been contaminated by the psychotic episode cannot be ruled out. The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between personality and psychopathology in a 'first-episode psychosis' sample using a dimensional approach. METHOD: Premorbid personality dimensions of 94 consecutively admitted 'first-episode psychosis' patients were assessed through the information collected from parents or a close biological relative. A semi-structured interview (Premorbid Assessment Schedule; [Tyrer, P., 1988. Personality Disorders: Diagnosis, management and course. Wright, London]) was used by a rater, blind to the patients' psychopathological symptoms. Associations between dimensions of premorbid personality and psychopathology were examined through Pearson correlation coefficients. RESULTS: The negative dimension was strongly associated with higher scores on the schizoid dimension. Additionally, trends towards significant direct associations were found between the negative dimension and both the passive-dependent and the schizotypic dimensions, between the hostility/suspiciousness dimension and both sociopathic and passive-dependent dimensions, and between the manic dimension and the obsessional dimension. Canonical correlation analysis demonstrated that premorbid personality dimensions explained 17% of the variance of psychopathological dimensions. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that premorbid personality dimensions may shape the expression of psychosis. Moreover, we hypothesize that certain personality dimensions, such as the schizoid dimension, should be considered nonspecific risk factors for expression of higher levels of negative symptomatology at the beginning of psychosis.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Do personality traits predict post-traumatic stress?: a prospective study in civilians experiencing air attacks.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have suggested an association between personality traits and post-traumatic stress. These studies either focused exclusively on military veterans or assessed personality traits after the traumatic event. This study investigates to what extent personality traits as assessed before the traumatic experience predict post-traumatic stress in civilians experiencing air attacks at the end of the exposure to stressful events and 1 year later. METHOD: The revised version of the NEO Personality Inventory was administered to 70 students in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. In 1999, 1 or 2 years after the assessment, all students were exposed to air attacks for 11 weeks. At the end of the attacks and 1 year later post-traumatic stress was measured on the Impact of Event Scale. RESULTS: Pre-trauma personality predicted 13% of the variance of intrusion scores 1 year after the attacks. There was no significant correlation between personality traits and subsequent avoidance scores at any point of time. CONCLUSIONS: Personality traits that are assessed before a traumatic event can, to a limited extent, predict intrusive symptoms in a non-clinical sample of civilians. Pre-trauma assessments of personality might be less strongly associated with post-traumatic stress than personality traits obtained after the traumatic event.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Personality characteristics of adolescent suicide attempters.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to explore both the personality characteristics and the symptoms of personality disorder of adolescent suicide attempters, as well as the relationship between personality variables and hopelessness in this population. METHOD: Two sample populations were used in this study. First, 102 adolescent suicide attempters between 13 and 18 years of age completed the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (MAPI) and the Hopelessness Scale for Children (HSC). A second group of 35 adolescent suicide attempters were administered the HSC and the revised Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines (DIB). RESULTS: No distinctive personality characteristics or symptoms of personality disorders were found. However, affective distress seemed to be the most prominent feature in the presentation of these adolescents. Additionally, high scores on the HSC were associated with elevated scores on the Personality Style scales of the MAPI and higher (more dysfunctional) scores on Affect Regulation on the DIB. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that clinicians should focus most on the personality characteristic of sensitivity and on affect regulation when assessing adolescent suicide attempters. In addition, hopelessness is important to systematically assess because it appears to be related to a variety of dysfunctional personality characteristics that may affect follow-up outcome.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Personality traits and brain dopaminergic function in Parkinson's disease.

A distinctive personality type, characterized by introversion, inflexibility, and low novelty seeking, has been suggested to be associated with Parkinson's disease. To test the hypothesis that Parkinson's disease is associated with a specific dopamine-related personality type, the personality structures of 61 unmedicated Parkinson's disease patients and 45 healthy controls were examined. Additionally, in 47 Parkinson's disease patients, the dopaminergic function in the brain was directly measured with 6-[(18)F]fluoro-l-dopa ((18)F-dopa) positron emission tomography (PET) with MRI coregistration. The novelty-seeking personality score, supposedly associated with the parkinsonian personality, was slightly lower in the Parkinson's disease group compared with controls, but it did not have a significant relationship with (18)F-dopa uptake in any of the brain regions studied (r = -0.12 to 0.11, P > 0.15). The harm-avoidance personality score, associated with anxiety and depression, was clearly increased in patients with Parkinson's disease and it had a paradoxical, highly significant positive correlation with the (18)F-dopa uptake in the right caudate nucleus (r = 0.53, P = 0.04, Bonferroni corrected for 220 comparisons). Although the results of this study are not in disagreement with the concept of low-novelty-seeking personality type in Parkinson's disease, the personality type does not seem to be dopamine dependent. The correlation between the personality trait of harm avoidance and (18)F-dopa may reflect a specific feedback circuitry of neurotransmitters that is associated with negative emotionality in Parkinson's disease.

Aged↗
PubMed2001

Personality disorders in parasuicide.

To examine the prevalence of personality disorders in a representative sample of patients admitted to inpatient care after a parasuicide, 64 consecutive patients were investigated with structured interviews for DSM-IV personality disorders and clinical interviews for Axis I disorders and suicidal behaviour. We found a borderline personality disorder (BPD) as principal diagnosis in 55% of the subjects and some other personality disorder (OPD) in an additional 23%. Multiple Axis II disorders were significantly more common in the BPD group, in which 71% met criteria for three or more personality disorders, compared with 7% in the OPD group. In the BPD group 20% did not have a concomitant Axis I disorder, whereas this was very uncommon in the other groups. A relatively large proportion (34%) in the BPD group used other parasuicide methods than drug intoxication, whereas in the other groups this was rare. The mean number of previous parasuicidal acts was significantly higher in the BPD group, in which 57% had three or more previous parasuicides, and a high proportion (60%) also had repeated a parasuicidal act within the last year. In the BPD group 69% had ongoing outpatient treatment. Only 25% of these outpatients had a borderline personality disorder reported in the hospital records, suggesting that the personality disorder might go undiagnosed. The study gives support to the importance of a focused and structured personality disorder diagnosis in customizing treatment for the person with a recent parasuicide.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Personality dimensions measured by the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) in subjects with social phobia.

The present study investigated personality dimensions by means of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) in subjects with social phobia with or without a co-existing avoidant personality disorder. Thirty-one individuals with social phobia were recruited through advertisement and diagnosed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV I and II psychiatric disorders. Comorbid Axis I psychiatric disorders were diagnosed in 29% of the cases. Co-occurring personality disorders were present in 55.8% of the cases, and avoidant personality disorder in 48.4%. The social phobia subjects, as compared to healthy controls of the same age, scored significantly higher in the TCI dimension measuring Harm avoidance but significantly lower in Persistence, Self-directedness, Cooperativeness and Self-transcendence. Presence of avoidant personality disorders in the social phobia subjects was associated with significantly higher Harm avoidance, particularly on the subscale Shyness with strangers. In conclusion, individuals with social phobia were characterized by high comorbidity of avoidant personality disorder and deviations in TCI personality dimensions. Enhanced Harm avoidance was the most prominent personality trait. The observed deviations in TCI dimensions were primarily related to the social phobia itself and not to the presence of concurrent personality disorders.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Adolescent bipolar illness and personality disorder.

The relationship between adolescent bipolar illness and personality disorder has not been explored. Studies of adult bipolars suggest a bipolar illness/borderline personality disorder (BPD) association. Twenty euthymic bipolar teens were assessed using the Personality Disorders Examination. Thirty-five percent met DSM-III-R criteria for at least one personality disorder. Three of the 20 (15%) had a borderline personality disorder diagnosis. The bipolar illness with personality disorder group differed significantly from the bipolar illness without personality disorder group in terms of increased lithium unresponsiveness (p less than 0.05) and neuroleptic treatment at time of personality assessment (p less than 0.01), but not in terms of age, sex, age of illness onset, serum lithium level, rapid cycling, substance abuse history, alcohol abuse history, or number of suicide attempts. Issues regarding the study of personality disorder in adolescent bipolars are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Personality and depression in Parkinson's disease.

The Parkinson's disease (PD) patient has been characterized as having a distinctive personality with introverted features. These personality traits are said to predate motor symptoms and are theorized to serve as a subtle clue to latent PD. To examine this hypothesis, we compared remote and current personality features in 35 PD subjects and 35 controls. Subjects' spouses completed a personality inventory (PI) characterizing patients' premorbid and current status. The premorbid PI of PD subjects differed from that of controls in being more "quiet," "generous," "cautious," and "even-tempered," and less "flexible." The characterization of the PD subjects' current personality differed greatly from reported premorbid personality features, i.e., significant change in 13 of 24 PI items. Personality inventory responses regarding both the PD subjects' premorbid and current personality correlated to symptoms of depression and disease severity. Cognition, tobacco use, alcohol consumption, and rural versus urban residency did not correlate with PI responses. We conclude that PD patients are apt to be viewed as introverts premorbidly, and, with disease onset, more striking personality changes are recognized. These perceptions appear to be closely linked to depressed affect and correlate with motor impairment to a lesser extent.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed2002

Normal and abnormal personality traits: evidence for genetic and environmental relationships in the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart.

Recent studies have demonstrated substantial correlations between normal and abnormal personality traits. Yet little is known about how these correlations are mediated genetically and environmentally: Do normal and abnormal personality traits stem from the same underlying genes and environments? We addressed this question using data from 128 monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs in the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart (MISTRA). Additive genetic and nonshared environmental correlations between scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)--an index of abnormal personality--and the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ)--an index of normal personality--were estimated. Results indicated that phenotypic correlations between normal and abnormal personality were mediated by genetic as well as environmental factors, although the magnitude of genetic mediation tended to be larger overall. Moreover, the patterns of phenotypic, genetic, and environmental relationships among the scales were similar, suggesting that influences on normal and abnormal personality act through systems common to both. It is suggested that future research focus on the neurogenetic substrates of these shared systems and how dysfunction in these systems influences development of disordered personality.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Levels and domains in personality: an introduction.

This special issue is centered around the problem of levels and domains in personality functioning. What kind of constructs--and at what levels and in what domains--are needed to understand what a person is like? To account for the complexity and scope of human lives, personality psychologists have traditionally put forth lists and taxonomies of factors, features, and variables that must be taken into consideration in formulating an adequate psychological portrait of the whole person. The five-factor model of personality traits has recently been offered as a comprehensive framework; however, critical analyses of the trait concept have revealed the limitations of a trait-based model of personality. Recognizing that the concept of trait is indispensable to a vital psychology of personality, this special issue aims to (a) communicate recent developments and organizational frameworks for understanding the person at multiple levels and in varied domains, and (b) articulate and elaborate units of analysis that, when combined with trait assessments, yield a psychology of personality that is commensurate with the complexity of individual functioning and that offers greater potential for the attainment of the original goals of the discipline.

Humans↗
PubMed1995

A clinical-empirical model of personality: life after the Mischelian ice age and the NEO-lithic era.

A theory of personality should lead to both accurate prediction and interpretive understanding. Aside from its empirical uses, a personality theory should provide a grammar that allows personality psychologists to infer meaning from overt behavior with more sophistication than a layperson, and the best laboratory for testing the interpretive utility of a personality theory remains the clinic. With respect to the appropriate data for constructing and evaluating theories of personality, an overreliance on questionnaire data is problematic for several reasons: It assumes that understanding people requires no training, it mistakes research on the conscious self-concept for research on personality, it conflates implicit and explicit knowledge, it fails to address defensive biases, and it lacks interrater reliability. Consideration of both empirical and clinical data points to three questions that define the elements of personality necessary for a comprehensive assessment of an individual: (a) What psychological resources--cognitive, affective, and behavioral dispositions--does the individual have at his or her disposal? (b) What does the person wish for, fear, and value, and how do these motives combine and conflict? (c) How does the person experience the self and others, and to what extent can the individual enter into intimate relationships?

Affect↗
PubMed1996

A high prevalence of abnormal personality traits in chronic users of anabolic-androgenic steroids.

OBJECTIVE: (1) To assess the personality profiles of the anabolic androgenic steroid users (AAS) and (2) to determine whether valid premorbid personality traits could be obtained from cross sectional assessment using multisource data. METHODS: The first author became a participant-observer in a group of body builders. An experimental group of body builders who had been using AAS for no more than 18 months (n = 12) was identified. A group of control subjects, each of whom claimed that he did not, and never had, used AAS (n = 12) was also recruited during this period. Key informants played a crucial role in recruiting subjects representative of the AAS and body building communities. An interview schedule based on the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM3-R) personality disorder criteria was conducted with each subject. Additional data were obtained from an AAS using informant and significant others including family and friends. RESULTS: The user group was significantly heavier than the control group and showed abnormal personality traits, in contrast to the control group. Personality traits of AAS users before the onset of AAS use, assessed retrospectively, were not different from personality traits of control subjects. There were significant differences between the before and after personality traits in AAS user group. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest (1) that AAS use is associated with significant disturbances in personality profile, and (2) that these personality disturbances are possibly the direct result of AAS use.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2025

Personality Genomics.

Recent research advances have precipitated the era of personality genomics: the study of how variation in human DNA sequence predicts individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Here, we introduce personality and genomics, and we review key findings from recent genome-wide association studies of personality traits. These findings support five key observations: (a) sizable genetic effects on personality arise from a vast number of genetic variants with individually miniscule effects; (b) genetic variants associated with personality have widespread associations with other attributes, including social, economic, and medical outcomes; (c) genetic effects on personality generalize across groupings of people; (d) genetic effects on personality are minimally confounded by familial environmental effects; and (e) many recent genomic findings were anticipated by classic twin genetic research. For personality psychologists, embracing genomics provides unique and powerful inferential tools. For genomics researchers, incorporating unifying personality frameworks enables an integrative understanding of core behavioral dimensions.

Humans↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Personality disorders and self-perceived quality of life in an elderly psychiatric outpatient population.

The aim of this work was to assess the impact of personality disorder and traits on the subjective assessment of quality of life by a sample of elderly psychiatric outpatients (60 years or more). Sixty of the total number of subjects interviewed were included in the test sample since they met the Vragenlijst Klinishe Persoonlijkheid (VKP) criteria for personality disorder. A control sample was also formed, composed of 50 subjects without personality disorders or traits. Quality of life was assessed using the LEIPAD questionnaire. Personality disorder diagnoses were prevalently distributed in cluster C (25%) and in cluster A (20%). A total of 48.3% of patients (n = 29) had more than 1 personality disorder. Sixty percent of the sample (n = 36) presented with comorbid Axis I psychiatric disorders, in most cases depressive pathologies. Comparing the case and control groups, worse LEIPAD scores were achieved by subjects with personality disorders. Between clusters of personality disorders, the worst scores were observed in subjects with more than 1 personality disorder diagnosis. Elderly people who presented with a personality disorder were more vulnerable to late-life distress, especially those with more than one diagnosis. In keeping with linear regression analysis, widowhood, divorcehood and living with others appear to be variables able to negatively influence quality of life in this population. While the VKP needs to be adapted to the application in the elderly, it does seem to be a particularly useful screening instrument.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

The impact of mother-child interaction on the development of borderline personality disorder.

OBJECTIVE: Two major psychodynamic theories of the etiology of borderline personality disorder posit two aspects of mother-child interaction as uniquely pathogenic: maternal over-involvement with the child and mismanagement and inappropriateness of maternal guidance and support of the child. This study is an attempt to examine these putative risk factors empirically, using epidemiologic methods. METHOD: Mother-child interaction, father-child interaction, maternal personality, and adolescent diagnoses of personality disorders were measured on two occasions, 2.5 years apart, in a random sample of 776 adolescents. RESULTS: Maternal inconsistency in upbringing of the child predicted a persistence or an emergence of borderline personality disorder, but not of any other axis II disorder. However, this effect occurred only in the presence of high maternal overinvolvement. Neither maternal overinvolvement nor maternal inconsistency alone predicted emergence of borderline personality disorder. Pathological features of maternal personality did not account for the combined effect of maternal overinvolvement and inconsistency on borderline personality disorder. CONCLUSIONS: The two child-rearing risk factors hypothesized to be important by two psychodynamic models of borderline personality disorder were found to be pathogenic only when they coexisted. Their effect could not be accounted for by the biological or environmental vulnerability represented by maternal borderline personality traits.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Validity of a diagnosis of lifetime major depression obtained by personal interview versus family history.

OBJECTIVE: Diagnoses obtained by family history agree only modestly with those obtained through personal interview. If personal interview diagnoses are the "gold standard," these findings suggest that family history diagnoses have low validity. Here the authors take another perspective--to evaluate family history versus personal interview diagnoses of lifetime major depression by three independent validators. METHOD: In a large sample of female-female twin pairs and their parents (903 families) ascertained from a population-based twin register, all subjects were personally interviewed by using a modified Structured Clinical Interview for DMS-III-R. Family history diagnoses based on the Family History Research Diagnostic Criteria were obtained by questioning each participant about his or her relatives. By means of multiple regression, the powers of the personal interview and family history methods were compared to predict 1) future episodes of major depression in the twins, 2) neuroticism, and 3) familial aggregation of major depression. RESULTS: Agreement between diagnoses obtained by personal interview and family history was modest. After the presence or absence of a personal interview diagnosis of major depression was controlled for, a family history diagnosis of major depression significantly predicted future episodes of major depression, neuroticism (in five of six analyses), and familial aggregation of major depression (in four of six analyses). CONCLUSIONS: Although agreeing relatively poorly, diagnoses of lifetime major depression obtained by personal interview and family history both contained useful information about future episodes, personality, and familial liability to illness. A multimethod approach to assessment of psychiatric illness may maximize the validity of psychiatric diagnoses.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Establishing the severity of personality disorder.

OBJECTIVE: The authors developed a simplified method of rating the severity of personality disorder. METHOD: The new rating method is based on four levels of severity: no personality disorder, personality difficulty, simple personality disorder, and diffuse personality disorder. The new method was applied to different diagnostic systems and was then compared with an old rating system based on six severity levels. Data were derived from a longitudinal study in which 163 patients with anxiety and depressive disorders had initial assessments of personality status and were followed up over 2 years. Ratings of psychiatric symptoms were made by using the Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale over this period. The results were analyzed with special attention to linear and quadratic trends. RESULTS: The new system was clinically useful in separating patients' initial assessments and outcomes. Patients with no personality disorder had the lowest initial symptom scores and the best outcomes, and those with diffuse personality disorder had the highest initial levels of symptoms and improved least over the 2 years. When the patients were separated by the old classification system, 72% of the variation between groups was accounted for by linear and quadratic trends; the comparable percentage was 97% when the patients were categorized by the new system. CONCLUSIONS: The new system of rating severity of personality disturbance is an improvement on existing methods and allows ratings to be made easily from DSM-IV and ICD-10.

Humans↗