Some psychological correlates of hemophilia

Personality characteristics, as measured by the Personality Research Form (PRF-E) and a specially designed questionnaire, of 33 male hemophiliacs were investigated. Subjects were subdivided into three separate categories, bases on the severity of their clinical manifestations of the disease. Results showed that, as a whole, all scored within plus or minus one standard deviation of the mean on all PRF-E scales. When the data were analyzed according to severity level, however, a significant difference appeared among the groups on the Harmavoidance scale, which indicated that those suffering from the most severe form of the disease were the least likely to avoid potentially hazardous activities. These findings and those from the questionnaire were discussed. It was suggested that when the disease is quite severe subjects may abandon attempts to seek and control life-style antecedents of the occurrence of bleeding episodes.