scholarly journals Personality, Defense Mechanisms and Psychological Distress in Women with Fibromyalgia

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Annunziata Romeo ◽  
Agata Benfante ◽  
Giuliano Carlo Geminiani ◽  
Lorys Castelli
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Defense Mechanisms ◽  
Depression Scale ◽  
Harm Avoidance ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Defense Style ◽  
Defense Styles ◽  
Character Inventory ◽  
Psychopathological Disorders

Background: Previous studies have shown that many personality traits are associated with fibromyalgia (FM), worsening both the quality of life and psychological distress of patients. Despite the high comorbidity of psychopathological disorders in this syndrome and their association with immature defense styles, few studies have examined the defense mechanisms used by FM patients. The main aim of our study was to investigate personality traits and defense mechanisms in FM patients compared to in a healthy control group (HC). Moreover, we investigated the effect of personality traits and defense mechanisms on psychological distress in both FM and HC groups. Methods: A total of 54 women with FM and 54 healthy women completed the (1) Temperament and Character Inventory—Revised; (2) the Toronto Alexithymia Scale; (3) the Defense Style Questionnaire; and (4) the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Results: The results indicated that FM patients display higher alexithymia, higher harm avoidance, lower self-directedness, lower persistence, and the higher use of a maladaptive defense style compared to HC. We found that alexithymia, harm avoidance, and maladaptive defense style are significant predictors of patients’ psychological distress. Moreover, harm avoidance and adaptive defense style significantly predicted psychological distress in the HC group. Conclusion: The present study is the first to explore the contribution of both defense mechanisms and personality characteristics on the psychological distress of FM patients. Our findings have important clinical implications and may help diagnose and treat FM patients more in depth.

scholarly journals A Comparison between Personality Traits and Defense Styles in Teenagers with Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder and Normal Individuals

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Narges Zamani ◽  
Mojtaba Habibi ◽  
Nasrin Zamani ◽  
Nina Jamshidnejad ◽  
Mani B. Monajemi
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Food Intake ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Defense Mechanisms ◽  
Control Group ◽  
School Students ◽  
Defense Style ◽  
Defense Styles ◽  
Normal Individuals ◽  
Significant Difference

Objective: The current study aims to compare the defense mechanisms and personality traits among teenagers with avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) and normal individuals. Materials and Methods: Incurrent casual-comparative study, 220 teenagers with an average age of 16.74±6.08 and age range of 13-17 were randomly selected from among high school students, who were diagnosed with avoidant restrictive food intake disorder in fall 2014 and 220 other peers with matching demographic characteristics were selected as the control group. Both groups were asked to fill Eysenckpersonality questionnaire and Andrews’ Defense Style Questionnaire. Data was analyzed via multivariate analysis of variance. Results: The average scores of teenagers with ARFID was higher than the control group regarding immature and neurotic defense style, neuroticism and extraversion; with respect to mature defense style variable average scores of teenagers with ARFID was lower comparing to control group. Thus, it can be concluded that there is a significant difference between personality traits and defence styles of teenagers with ARFID and normal teenagers.

scholarly journals The link between personality dimensions and pain perception in patients with diabetes mellitus or cancer

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cătălina-Maria Petrașcu ◽  
Valentin-Marcel Vașadi ◽  
Răzvan Moisă ◽  
Marinela Minodora Manea
Keyword(s):  
Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Pain Perception ◽  
Depression Scale ◽  
Harm Avoidance ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Cancer Disease ◽  
Patients With Cancer ◽  
Patients With Diabetes

Background and aims. Diabetes mellitus and cancer are two diseases with a strong psychological impact. Personality traits modulate the perception of pain and the response to disease. The specificity of this study consists of the assessment of personality, pain and emotional impact in the two diseases. Method. The study included 130 participants assigned to 3 groups: patients with diabetes mellitus, patients with cancer disease, and a control group. The personality traits of all the participants were analyzed using Cloninger’s Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). For the evaluation of pain, as well as associated anxiety and depression in the diabetes and cancer groups, the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were used.  Results. Patients with diabetes mellitus and cancer disease had significantly higher total values on the Harm Avoidance scale (HA) (p<0.001) and lower total values on the Self-Directedness scale (SD), Reward Dependence scale (RD), Cooperativeness scale (CO) (p<0.001) compared to the control group. Major anxiety was predominant in patients with diabetes mellitus (34%), and major depression was prevalent in cancer patients (17.5%). Patients with diabetes mellitus obtained a significantly higher severity score at BPI scale than patients with cancer disease (p=0.03). Conclusions. The existence of a mutual personality profile featuring high levels of Harm Avoidance and low levels of Self-Directedness in patients with diabetes mellitus and cancer who experience pain has great implications for the therapeutic approach. A potential future avenue of management in these diseases may lie in targeting particular personality aspects of chronic pain patients.    

Temperament and character in primary insomnia

2005 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zara de Saint Hilaire ◽  
Judith Straub ◽  
Antoine Pelissolo
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Depression Scale ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Primary Insomnia ◽  
Harm Avoidance ◽  
Chronic Insomnia ◽  
Sleep Regulation ◽  
Temperament And Character Inventory ◽  
Serotonergic Activity ◽  
Character Inventory

AbstractRecent studies by Cloninger suggest that the temperament dimension of harm avoidance might be related to serotonergic activity. Since serotonergic mechanisms equally play a major role in sleep regulation, we decided to use Cloninger’s psychobiological model of temperament and character to assess whether there is a link between psychophysiologic insomnia and specific personality traits. Chronic insomnia is a common complaint in modern society, and it is still controversial whether insomniacs share specific personality traits. Thirty-two chronic insomniacs (<50 years) were studied. They underwent polysomnography for two consecutive nights and filled out the 226-item self-questionnaire of Temperament and Character Inventory as well as the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale. (1) Harm avoidance for all subscores was significantly higher in insomniac patients when compared with controls; (2) self-directedness scores were lower in insomniacs; (3) sleep latency was positively correlated to harm avoidance; (4) HA1 (anticipatory worry) was negatively correlated to REM latency. Temperament and Character Inventory is a useful tool in the investigation of chronic insomnia. Serotonergic mechanisms might explain the high incidence of harm avoidance as personality trait in psychophysiologic insomniac patients. Further studies are needed to see whether harm avoidance could be a psychological vulnerability marker for primary insomnia and be used as predictor of SSRI treatment responders.

scholarly journals Personality traits and BMI trends over three years in Japanese university students

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e0248833
Author(s):  
Nozomi Fukuhara-Makiyama ◽  
Masaki Hayashida ◽  
Masakazu Kobayashi ◽  
Ikuko Sagara ◽  
Sayaka Ogawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Japanese Version ◽  
Harm Avoidance ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Novelty Seeking ◽  
Japanese University ◽  
University Admission ◽  
Character Inventory ◽  
The Relationship

In Europe and America, associations between personality traits and body-mass index (BMI) have been reported. However, in Japan, the association between personality traits and BMI (i.e., thinness and obesity) has not been well studied. In this study, we investigated the relationship between Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) personality traits and changes in BMI status among Japanese students during their university attendance. We measured the height and weight of 5,340 students in a Japanese university during annual medical checkups and calculated their BMI. The students’ personality traits were measured using the short Japanese version of the TCI at university admission. The participants were divided into seven groups based on how BMI changed from the first year to the fourth year at university. In men, compared to the group that maintained normal BMI status (N = 2,189) over time (i.e., the control group), the group that maintained thinness status (N = 226) were lower in Reward Dependence, and the group whose status improved from thinness to normal (N = 117) were higher in Harm Avoidance. In women, compared with the control group (N = 1,510), the group that maintained thinness status (N = 302) was lower in Novelty Seeking, and the group whose status worsened from normal to thinness (N = 127) was higher in Harm Avoidance. Weak associations were found between thinness and TCI personality traits among Japanese university students. Further elaboration of the relationship between obesity or thinness and personality traits may help to provide effective preventive interventions in these areas.

scholarly journals Personality traits mediate the association between perceived parental bonding and well-being in adult volunteers from the community

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Akiko Murakoshi ◽  
Nobuyuki Mitsui ◽  
Jiro Masuya ◽  
Yota Fujimura ◽  
Shinji Higashi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Parental Bonding ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Harm Avoidance ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Reward Dependence ◽  
Character Inventory ◽  
Self Transcendence ◽  
Adult Volunteers

Abstract Background Previous studies reported that subjective well-being in adulthood correlates with perceived parental bonding in childhood as well as personality traits. However, whether personality traits mediate the effect of perceived parental bonding on well-being or not has not been reported to date. In this study, we hypothesized that ‘parental care and overprotection’ in childhood affect ‘well-being’ in adulthood through various ‘personality traits’, and analyzed this using structural equation modeling. Methods A total of 402 adult volunteers from the community provided responses to the following questionnaires: 1) Parental Bonding Instrument, 2) Temperament and Character Inventory, and 3) The Subjective Well-being Inventory. Two structural equation models were designed and the maximum likelihood estimation method was used for covariance structure analysis. Results Parental care in childhood directly increased well-being in adulthood and indirectly increased it through personality traits (harm avoidance, reward dependence, and self-directedness). Parental overprotection in childhood had no direct effect on well-being in adulthood but decreased well-being in adulthood indirectly through personality traits (harm avoidance, reward dependence, and self-directedness) and increased it through one personality trait (self-transcendence). Conclusions This study showed that the influences of perceived parental bonding on well-being in adulthood are mediated by self-directedness, harm avoidance, reward dependence, and self-transcendence among the seven personality dimensions evaluated by the Temperament and Character Inventory.

Women Addiction (Alcohol and Opiates) and Defense Mechanism Style

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (S1) ◽  
pp. 1-1 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Raketic ◽  
M. Kovacevic ◽  
T. Djuric
Keyword(s):  
Psychiatric Diagnosis ◽  
Defense Mechanisms ◽  
Defense Mechanism ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Defense Style ◽  
Defense Style Questionnaire ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Opiate Addicts

Very few researches concerning women addictions are done up to day. This paper tries to define basic similarities and differences in defense mechanisms used by women alcohol and opiate addicts.Method:Sample of alcohol and opiate female addicts (30 patients in each group) plus control group (30 women) with no psychiatric diagnosis were questioned with Defense Style Questionnaire - DSQ 40 (Andrews, Singh, Bond, 1993).Results:There were found no statistically relevant differences between two experimental and one control group concerning mature defense mechanism use. Significant differences were found in neurotic and immature defense mechanism use: alcohol addicts use prevalently neurotic mechanisms and immature mechanisms prevail among opiate addicts.Conclusions:In our research mostly used neurotic defense mechanisms by alcohol addicts were: pseudoaltruism, idealization, and undoing. The mostly used immature defense mechanisms among opiate addicts were: phantasy, isolation, devaluation, denial and splitting.

New evidence for a pain personality? A critical review of the last 120 years of pain and personality

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brooke Naylor ◽  
Simon Boag ◽  
Sylvia Maria Gustin
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Pain ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Harm Avoidance ◽  
Vicious Cycle ◽  
Fear Avoidance ◽  
Temperament And Character Inventory ◽  
The Past ◽  
Character Inventory ◽  
Personality Features ◽  
New Evidence

AbstractBackgroundPersonality traits may influence development and adjustment to ongoing pain. Over the past 120 years, there has been considerable research into the relationship between pain and personality. This paper presents new evidence for common personality traits found amongst chronic pain sufferers. In particular, it evaluates evidence for Cloninger’s biopsychosocial model of personality in distinguishing typical personality features of chronic pain sufferers. It evaluates this evidence in the context of the past 120 years of research including psychodynamic formulations, MMPI studies, personality disorder investigations, and the influence of neuroticism on chronic pain.MethodsA literature search was conducted using PubMed, Medline, PsyclNFO, SCOPUS and Cochrane library. Search terms included chronic pain, pain, personality, neuroticism, harm avoidance, self-directedness, attachment, Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-R), MMPI, MMPI-2, NEO-PI, EPI, Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory, Millon Behavioral Health Inventory, Millon Behavioral Medicine Diagnostic, the Personality Assessment Inventory, the Locus of Control Construct and different combinations of these terms.ConclusionsRecent descriptive studies using Cloninger’s Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-R) suggest that higher harm avoidance and lower self-directedness may be the most distinguishing personality features of chronic pain sufferers. High harm avoidance refers to a tendency to be fearful, pessimistic, sensitive to criticism, and requiring high levels of re-assurance. Low self-directedness often manifests as difficulty with defining and setting meaningful goals, low motivation, and problems with adaptive coping. Evidence for this personality profile is found across a wide variety of chronic pain conditions including fibromyalgia, headache and migraine, temporomandibular disorder, trigeminal neuropathy, musculo-skeletal disorders and heterogeneous pain groups. Limitations are also discussed. For example, high harm avoidance is also found in those suffering anxiety and depression. While many studies control for such factors, some do not and thus future research should address such confounds carefully. The evidence is also evaluated within the context of past research into the existence of ‘a pain personality’. Psychodynamic formulations are found to be deficient in objective scientific methods. MMPI studies lack sufficient evidence to support ‘a pain personality’ and may be confounded by somatic items in the instrument. More recent neuroticism studies suggest a relationship between neuroticism and pain, particularly for adjustment to chronic pain. Personality disorders are more prevalent in chronic pain populations than non-pain samples.Clinical implicationsBecause harm avoidance reflects a tendency to developed conditioned fear responses, we suggest that higher harm avoidance may create more vulnerability to developing a fear-avoidance response to chronic pain. Furthermore, lower self-directedness may contribute to keeping a sufferer within this vicious cycle of fear, avoidance and suffering. Moreover, we suggest that harm avoidance and self-directedness are broader and more complex constructs than current clinical targets of CBT such as fear-avoidance and self-efficacy. Thus, assessing such personality traits may help to address the complexity of chronic pain presentations. For example, it may help to identify and treat sufferers more resistant to treatment, more prone to comorbidity and more vulnerable to entering the vicious cycle of chronic pain, suffering and disability.

scholarly journals Personality, mental health and demographic correlates of hoarding behaviours in a midlife sample

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet K. Spittlehouse ◽  
Esther Vierck ◽  
John F. Pearson ◽  
Peter R. Joyce
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Short Form ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Harm Avoidance ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Temperament And Character Inventory ◽  
Economic Problems ◽  
Character Inventory

We describe the Temperament and Character Inventory personality traits, demographic features, physical and mental health variables associated with hoarding behaviour in a random community sample of midlife participants in New Zealand. A sample of 404 midlife participants was recruited to a study of ageing. To assess hoarding behaviours participants completed the Savings Inventory-Revised (SI-R), personality was assessed by the Temperament and Character Inventory and self-reported health was measured by the Short Form-36v2 (SF-36v2). Other measures were used to assess socio-demographic variables and current mental disorders. Participants were split into four groups by SI-R total score (scores: 0–4, 5–30, 31–41 and >41). Those who scored >41 on the SI-R were classified as having pathological hoarding. Trend tests were calculated across the four hoarding groups for socio-demographic, personality, mental and physical health variables. SI-R scores ranged from 0 to 58. The prevalence of pathological hoarding was 2.5% and a further 4% reported sub-clinical symptoms of hoarding. Higher hoarding behaviour scores were related to higher Temperament and Character Inventory scores for Harm Avoidance and lower scores for Self-directedness. Persistence and Cooperativeness scores were lower too but to a lesser extent. Trend analysis revealed that those with higher hoarding behaviour scores were more likely to be single, female, unemployed, receive income support, have a lower socio-economic status, lower household income and have poorer self-reported mental health scores. Current depression rates were considerably higher in the pathological hoarding group. Increasing SI-R hoarding behaviour scores were associated with higher scores of negative affect (Harm Avoidance) and lower scores of autonomy (Self-directedness). Those with pathological hoarding or sub-clinical symptoms of hoarding also reported widespread mental and socio-economic problems. In this study it is clear to see the physical, mental and socio-economic problems experienced by those achieving the highest hoarding scores. The prevalence of pathological hoarding was 2.5%, similar to the prevalence reported by other studies. The personality traits associated with hoarding behaviours are discussed.

scholarly journals Temperament and Personality Traits in Patients with Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria: A Cross-Sectional Study

2022 ◽  
Vol In Press (In Press) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Khoshkhui ◽  
Maedeh Kamrani ◽  
Maryam Emadzadeh ◽  
Zahra Jafari ◽  
Farhad Faridhosseini
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Harm Avoidance ◽  
Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Novelty Seeking ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Self Transcendence

Background: Considering the psychobiological aspects of various dermatological diseases and the role of personality traits in the development of chronic skin diseases, the present study aimed to assess the personality traits of patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria compared to healthy individuals. Methods: In this cross-sectional study conducted during 2016 - 2018, 100 patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria were selected using the convenience sampling method. Moreover, 100 healthy participants were selected as the control group. Research instruments were Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and a demographic checklist. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, and chi-square test using SPSS Software version 23. Results: The patients had higher scores in novelty-seeking (P = 0.041) and harm avoidance (P = 0.015), while the healthy individuals had higher scores in self-directedness (P = 0.003) and cooperativeness (P = 0.001). Moreover, male patients had higher scores in novelty-seeking (P = 0.006) and rewarded dependence (P = 0.013); however, female patients had higher scores in self-transcendence (P = 0.001) and cooperativeness (P = 0.019). Furthermore, there was a correlation between the disease duration of with reward dependence, self-directedness, and self-transcendence. Conclusions: Personality traits seem to be associated with chronic spontaneous urticaria. In this regard, patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria had higher scores in novelty-seeking and harm avoidance and lower scores in self-directedness and cooperativeness than healthy individuals.

ABCA1 Polymorphism, a Genetic Risk Factor of Harm Avoidance

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 189-195
Author(s):  
Eszter Kotyuk ◽  
Viktor Biro ◽  
Julianna Bircher ◽  
Zsuzsanna Elek ◽  
Maria Sasvari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Haplotype Analysis ◽  
Harm Avoidance ◽  
Cholesterol Homeostasis ◽  
Bonferroni Correction ◽  
Temperament And Character Inventory ◽  
Character Inventory ◽  
Self Harm ◽  
Independent Association ◽  
Related Personality

Abstract. Even though cholesterol homeostasis and self-harm behaviors have shown to be associated, gene polymorphisms of the cholesterol system have not been studied yet in the context of self-harm related personality traits. Here we present an association study between six ABCA1 polymorphisms and temperament scales measured by Cloninger’s Temperament and Character Inventory on 253 young adults. An association between ABCA1 rs4149264 and harm avoidance has been observed. This association remained significant after Bonferroni correction. Haplotype analysis confirmed an independent association between rs4149264 and harm avoidance. ABCA1, a cholesterol homeostasis gene, is a candidate gene for harm related personality traits.

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