Personality traits in subjects with bipolar I disorder in remission (original) (raw)

Personality trait predictors of bipolar disorder symptoms

The purpose of the current investigation was to examine the personality predictors of bipolar disorder symptoms, conceptualized as one-dimensional (bipolarity) or two-dimensional (mania and depression). A psychiatric sample (N=370; 45% women; mean age 39.50 years) completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory -2. A model in which bipolar symptoms were represented as a single dimension provided a good fit to the data. This dimension was predicted by Neuroticism and (negative) Agreeableness. A model in which bipolar symptoms were represented as two separate dimensions of mania and depression also provided a good fit to the data. Depression was associated with Neuroticism and (negative) Extraversion, whereas mania was associated with Neuroticism, Extraversion and (negative) Agreeableness. Symptoms of bipolar disorder can be usefully understood in terms of two dimensions of mania and depression, which have distinct personality correlates.

Affective Temperaments and Illness Severity in Patients with Bipolar Disorder

Medicina, 2021

Background and objectives: Bipolar disorder (BD) is one of the most burdensome psychiatric illnesses, being associated with a negative long-term outcome and the highest suicide rate. Although affective temperaments can impact on BD long-term outcome, their role remains poorly investigated. The aims of the present study are to describe the clinical characteristics of patients with BD more frequently associated with the different affective temperaments and to assess the relation between affective temperaments and severity of clinical picture in a sample of patients with BD. Materials and Methods: A total of 199 patients have been recruited in the outpatients units of two university sites. Patients’ psychiatric symptoms, affective temperaments, and quality of life were investigated through validated assessment instruments. Results: Predominant cyclothymic and irritable temperaments are associated to higher number of relapses, poorer quality of life, higher rates of aggressive behaviors...

Temperament and character profiles in bipolar I, bipolar II and major depressive disorder: Impact over illness course, comorbidity pattern and psychopathological features of depression

Journal of affective disorders, 2015

Studies comparing temperament and character traits between patients with mood disorders and healthy individuals have yielded variable results. The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) was administered to 101 bipolar I (BP-I), 96 bipolar II (BP-II), 123 major depressive disorder (MDD) patients, and 125 HS. A series of generalized linear models were performed in order to: (a) compare the TCI dimensions across groups; (b) test any effect of the TCI dimensions on clinical features of mood disorders; and (c) detect any association between TCI dimensions and the psychopathological features of a major depressive episode. Demographic and clinical variables were also included in the models as independent variables. Higher Harm Avoidance was found in BP-II and MDD, but not in BP-I. Higher Self-Transcendence was found in BP-I. Our models also showed higher Self-Directedness in HS, either vs MDD or BP-II. No association was found between any TCI dimension and the severity of symptoms. Conv...

Temperament and character dimensions in bipolar I disorder: A comparison to healthy controls

Journal of Psychiatric Research, 2008

This study examined whether comorbid personality disorders and other clinical factors were predictive of functional morbidity in bipolar I disorder. Fifty-one participants with a diagnosis of bipolar I were assessed for personality disorders and administered measures of symptomatic and functional outcomes approximately 1 year after a psychiatric hospitalization. Forty-five percent of the sample met criteria for at least one personality disorder, and patients with a personality disorder reported higher levels of residual symptoms at the time of assessment. Two thirds of participants displayed compromised functional outcomes. The three outcome domains examined (i.e., occupational, residential, social/leisure) were related to a range of clinical characteristics, and for all three, either the presence of a personality disorder diagnosis or maladaptive trait scores was associated with impaired functioning. These relationships, however, were not independent of mood symptoms according to multivariate analysis. Residual depression predicted poorer residential and social/leisure outcomes independent of personality disorders or maladaptive traits.

[Temperament and character personality dimensions in patients with bipolar I disorder]

Turk psikiyatri dergisi = Turkish journal of psychiatry

Objectives: To compare Cloninger's dimensions of temperament and character in patients with bipolar I disorder (BP-I) and healthy controls from the general population. Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study included 96 BP-I patients (according to DSM-IV-TR criteria) that were admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Iran due to an acute episode of mania or depression, or a mixed episode during 2011. Following stabilization of the acute phase, the patients completed the 125-item Temperament and Character Inventory-Persian Version of (TCI-125-PV). The scale's 7 dimensions of temperament and character were compared between the bipolar group and 1212 healthy controls via independent samples t-test. Moreover, the correlation between temperament and character scores, and age, duration of disorder, and mood variables (depression and mania scores) were assessed using Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results: The bipolar patients had significantly higher harm avoidance (P = 0.001), and lower reward dependency (P = 0.001), persistence (P = 0.044), cooperativeness (P = 0.001), self-directedness (P = 0.001), and self-transcendence (P = 0.004) scores than the controls. Female patienta had lower reward dependency (P = 0.001), self-directedness (P = 0.001), and cooperativeness (P = 0.001) scores than male patients In addition, TCI-125-PV scores were not strongly correlated with depression or mania scores, duration of disorder, or marital status. Conclusion: The personality profiles of the BP-I patients differed from those of the controls. Lower self-directedness and cooperativeness scores in the bipolar group appeared to be associated with more immature personality traits.

Psychosocial Outcome in Bipolar I Patients With a Personality Disorder

This study examined whether comorbid personality disorders and other clinical factors were predictive of functional morbidity in bipolar I disorder. Fifty-one participants with a diagnosis of bipolar I were assessed for personality disorders and administered measures of symptomatic and functional outcomes approximately 1 year after a psychiatric hospitalization. Forty-five percent of the sample met criteria for at least one personality disorder, and patients with a personality disorder reported higher levels of residual symptoms at the time of assessment. Two thirds of participants displayed compromised functional outcomes. The three outcome domains examined (i.e., occupational, residential, social/leisure) were related to a range of clinical characteristics, and for all three, either the presence of a personality disorder diagnosis or maladaptive trait scores was associated with impaired functioning. These relationships, however, were not independent of mood symptoms according to multivariate analysis. Residual depression predicted poorer residential and social/leisure outcomes independent of personality disorders or maladaptive traits.

The distinct temperament profiles of bipolar I, bipolar II and unipolar patients

Journal of Affective Disorders, 2006

Background: Despite a plethora of studies, controversies abound on whether the long-term traits of unipolar and bipolar patients could be differentiated by temperament and whether these traits, in turn, could be distinguished from subthreshold affective symptomatology. Methods: 98 bipolar I (BP-I), 64 bipolar II (BP-II), and 251 unipolar major depressive disorder (UP-MDD) patients all when recovered from discrete affective episodes) and 617 relatives, spouses or acquaintances without lifetime RDC diagnoses (the comparison group, CG) were administered a battery of 17 self-rated personality scales chosen for theoretical relevance to mood disorders. Subsamples of each of the four groups also received the General Behavior Inventory (GBI). Results: Of the 436 personality items, 103 that significantly distinguished the three patient groups were subjected to principal components analysis, yielding four factors which reflect the temperamental dimensions of "Mood Lability", "Energy-Assertiveness," "Sensitivity-Brooding," and "Social Anxiety." Most BP-I described themselves as near normal in emotional stability and extroversion; BP-II emerged as labile in mood, energetic and assertive, yet sensitive and brooding; MDD were socially timid, sensitive and brooding. Gender and age did not have marked influence on these overall profiles. Within the MDD group, those with baseline dysthymia were the most pathological (i.e., high in neuroticism, insecurity and introversion). Selected GBI items measuring hypomania and biphasic mood changes were endorsed significantly more often by BP-II. Finally, it is relevant to highlight a methodologic finding about the precision these derived temperament factors brought to the UP-BP differentiation. Unlike BP-I who were low on neuroticism, both BP-II and UP scored high on this measure: yet, in the case of BP-II high neuroticism was largely due to mood lability, in UP it reflected subdepressive traits. Limitation: We used self-rated personality measures, a possible limitation generic to the paper-and-pencil personality literature. It is therefore likely that BP-I may have over-rated their "sanguinity"; or should one consider such self-report as a reliable reflection of one's temperament? One can raise similar unanswerable questions about "depressiveness" and "mood lability."

Personality Patterns and Outcome in Depressive and Bipolar Disorders

Psychopathology, 1998

Personality traits and disorders have a strong influence on the course and outcome of depressive and bipolar disorders. Studies of the influence of personality disorders (PD) and some PD clusters on outcome of mood disorders are controversial and suggest that more specific assessment of underlying traits or dimensions is needed. Utilizing the Munich Personality test (MP-T) scales of von Zerssen, this study tries to identify specific personality traits that may influence the outcome and clinical course of unipolar endogenous depression and bipolar disorder. Six unipolar depressives and 6 bipolar patients, according to DSM III-R and ICD 10 criteria, were assessed with the MP-T selfand family-reporting scales. Three years later, their outcome scores were correlated with the corresponding premorbid personality profile. Preliminary results show that introversion has a negative effect on outcome of unipolar melancholic depression, while extraversion, esoteric tendencies and rigidity have a positive influence. Neuroticism has a negative influence on outcome of bipolar disorder, but not on unipolar endogenous depression. Data from the literature suggest that neuroticism, hostility and social dysfunction seem to have a negative prognostic value only for nonendogenous depressives and bipolar disorder, thus supporting the notion that the diagnostic distinction between bipolar disorder, endogenous and nonendogenous depression is relevant to prognostic discussions. These observations help to understand the differences between depressive syndromes and their relationship to prognosis, but also to comprehend the role of personality in clinical and theoretical research of mood disorders.