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Personality traits in schizophrenia: comparison with a community sample
R J Gurrera1, P G Nestor, B F O'Donnell
1Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Brockton-West Roxbury DVAMC, Brockton, Massachusetts 02301, USA.
The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
|February 9, 2000
Summary
Patients with schizophrenia exhibit distinct personality traits, scoring higher in neuroticism and lower in conscientiousness compared to healthy individuals. Further research is needed to understand if these differences are a predisposition or a consequence of the illness.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Psychology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Schizophrenia is a complex mental disorder with significant impacts on an individual's life.
- Understanding personality trait differences may offer insights into the disorder's etiology and progression.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the personality trait profiles of male patients diagnosed with schizophrenia against a healthy male community sample.
- To identify specific differences in personality traits between these two groups.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) to assess personality traits.
- Employed multivariate analyses to compare mean scale scores and overall personality profiles between patients with schizophrenia (N=24) and healthy controls (N=46).
Main Results:
- A significant difference was observed in the overall personality profiles between clinically stable schizophrenia patients and the community sample.
- Schizophrenia patients scored significantly higher on neuroticism and significantly lower on conscientiousness compared to controls.
Conclusions:
- The findings confirm and extend previous research on personality traits in schizophrenia.
- Further prospective studies are required to determine if these observed personality differences represent a premorbid predisposition or a secondary effect of schizophrenia.