Personality as a predictor of depression symptoms in burn patients: a follow-up study

There is empirical evidence that having some personality characteristics increases the risk of developing depression. This is the first study which analyses the role of personality dimensions, assessed by the Alternative Five Factor Model, in the development of depressive symptoms in adult burn survivors across time. Participants were 109 adult burn survivors admitted to a Burns Unit. Personality was assessed by the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire and depression symptoms by the Beck Depression Inventory. After adjusting by age, gender and burn size, results showed that high Neuroticism-Anxiety (N-Anx) and Aggression-Hostility (Agg-Host) were related to higher depression scores when compared with low N-Anx and Agg-Host groups along the six months follow-up. Moreover, Activity and Impulsive-Sensation Seeking factors were involved in statistically significant different depressive symptom development trajectories during the six months after burn. These findings suggest that personality factors could be used to identify the most vulnerable patients, who could develop severe mood symptoms at different points in their recovery.