Stability of personality traits in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder: a pilot project

This study was performed in an effort to begin characterization of personality traits in schizophrenia. Specific concerns included personality profiles relative to normal adults, personality profile stability over time, and trait-state issues. The authors administered the NEO Personality Inventory as well as symptom ratings at two time points to 21 patients. Patients were all stabilized outpatients attending an adult continuing day treatment program and diagnosed with either schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Personality profiles were determined for all patients. Compared with a normal adult sample, this sample's scores on three out of five of the personality domains assessed were not distinguishable from normal adults. Test-retest correlations were highly significant over an average 28.2-week time interval. In general, the presence of positive symptoms did not appear related to NEO-PI stability, while negative symptoms did show a relationship to the stability of personality profiles. These data suggest that personality profiles can be looked at in schizophrenia, that these profiles do appear stable over time, and that negative symptoms have a strong influence on profile stability and appear to be "trait-like."