Activity/disengagement revisited: personality types in the aged

Different patterns of personality in old age were examined in an aged community sample of 82 subjects (mean age 79.6 years). Four personality patterns in old age were identified using multivariate techniques. They were the normal, the introverted, the perturbed and the matured integrated. The clinical implications of personality types in old age are discussed; the perturbed group are most likely to develop psychiatric disorder.