Korean J Schizophr Res.  2012 Oct;15(2):73-80. 10.16946/kjsr.2012.15.2.73.

Multidimensional Comparison of Personality Characteristics in Genetic High Risk for Schizophrenia, First Episode Psychosis and Healthy Controls

• Han JW
• Kim SN
• Park JW
• Yun JY
• Shin NY
• Hur JW
• Kim SW
• Kwon JS

• KMID: 2288283
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.16946/kjsr.2012.15.2.73

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
Previous studies have suggested that some personality characteristics are associated with the onset, prognosis and social function in schizophrenia patients. However few is known about the personality and affective characteristic of genetic high risk group (GHR) for schizophrenia. This study aimed to investigate the personality and the affective characteristic of GHR group for schizophrenia.
METHODS
Participants were 54 healthy controls (HC), 26 subjects with GHR for schizophrenia and 28 subjects with first episode psychosis (FEP). We performed three self-report questionnaires; NEO-Personality Inventory-Revised, State and Anger Expression Inventory and Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule.
RESULTS
The GHR group showed higher score in agreeableness item than the HC (p=0.028). In extraversion item, the FEP group showed significantly lower scores than the HC (p=0.001). The GHR group showed lower scores in neuroticism item compared with FEP group in trend level. The FEP group showed higher trait-anger, lower positive affect and higher negative affect compared with the others.
CONCLUSION
The GHR group seem to share certain vulnerable personality and affective characteristics for schizophrenia with the FEP group. On the other hands, the GHR group appeared to be more agreeable than the other groups, which might act as the compensation for other impaired functions.

Keyword

NEO-Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO-PI-R); Five Factor Model (FFM); State and Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI); Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS); Genetic High Risk (GHR); Schizophrenia

MeSH Terms

Anger
Anxiety Disorders
Compensation and Redress
Extraversion (Psychology)
Hand
Humans
Polytetrafluoroethylene
Prognosis
Psychotic Disorders
Schizophrenia
Anxiety Disorders
Polytetrafluoroethylene

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Profiles of the personality dimensions of HC, GHR and FEP group. Error bars with 95% Confidence Interval. Agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and openness to experience were measured by the NEO-PI-R. *: p<0.05. GHR : genetic high risk, FEP : first episode psychosis, HC : healthy controls, NEO-PI-R NEO personality. Inventory-revised.

• 

  Fig. 2 Profiles of the affective dimensions of HC, GHR and FEP group. Error bars with 95% Confidence Interval. State- and trait-anger were measured by STAXI. Positive and negative affect were measured by the PANAS. *: p<0.05. GHR : genetic high risk, FEP : first episode psychosis, HC : healthy controls, STAXI : state trait anger expression inventory, PANAS : positive affect and negative affect schedule.

Reference

1. Hans SL, Auerbach JG, Asarnow JR, Styr B, Marcus J. Social adjustment of adolescents at risk for schizophrenia: the Jerusalem Infant Development Study. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2000. 39:1406–1414.

2. Dworkin RH, Lewis JA, Cornblatt BA, Erlenmeyer-Kimling L. Social competence deficits in adolescents at risk for schizophrenia. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1994. 182:103–108.

3. Cannon M, Jones P, Gilvarry C, Rifkin L, McKenzie K, Foerster A, et al. Premorbid social functioning in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: similarities and differences. Am J Psychiatry. 1997. 154:1544–1550.

4. Bellack AS, Morrison RL, Wixted JT, Mueser KT. An analysis of social competence in schizophrenia. Br J Psychiatry. 1990. 156:809–818.

5. Couture SM, Penn DL, Roberts DL. The functional significance of social cognition in schizophrenia: a review. Schizophr Bull. 2006. 32:Suppl 1. S44–S63.

6. Reininghaus UA, Morgan C, Simpson J, Dazzan P, Morgan K, Doody GA, et al. Unemployment, social isolation, achievement-expectation mismatch and psychosis: findings from the AESOP Study. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2008. 43:743–751.

7. Rabinowitz J, Haim R, Reichenberg A, Weiser M, Kaplan Z, Davidson M, et al. Association between functioning in adolescence prior to first admission for schizophrenia and affective disorders and patterns of hospitalizations thereafter. Schizophr Res. 2005. 73:185–191.

8. Haim R, Rabinowitz J, Bromet E. The relationship of premorbid functioning to illness course in schizophrenia and psychotic mood disorders during two years following first hospitalization. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2006. 194:791–795.

9. Amirkhan JH, Risinger RT, Swickert RJ. Extraversion: a "hidden" personality factor in coping? J Pers. 1995. 63:189–212.

10. McCrae RR, Costa PT. Personality, coping and coping effectiveness in an adult sample. J Pers. 1986. 54:385–405.

11. Lysaker PH, Bell MD, Kaplan E, Bryson G. Personality and psychosocial dysfunction in schizophrenia: the association of extraversion and neuroticism to deficits in work performance. Psychiatry Res. 1998. 80:61–68.

12. Berenbaum H, Fujita F. Schizophrenia and personality: exploring the boundaries and connections between vulnerability and outcome. J Abnorm Psychol. 1994. 103:148–158.

13. Bagby RM, Bindseil KD, Schuller DR, Rector NA, Young LT, Cooke RG, et al. Relationship between the five-factor model of personality and unipolar, bipolar and schizophrenic patients. Psychiatry Res. 1997. 70:83–94.

14. Camisa KM, Bockbrader MA, Lysaker P, Rae LL, Brenner CA, O'Donnell BF. Personality traits in schizophrenia and related personality disorders. Psychiatry Res. 2005. 133:23–33.

15. Kentros M, Smith TE, Hull J, McKee M, Terkelsen K, Capalbo C. Stability of personality traits in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder: a pilot project. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1997. 185:549–555.

16. Martin RL, Cloninger CR, Guze SB, Clayton PJ. Frequency and differential diagnosis of depressive syndromes in schizophrenia. J Clin Psychiatry. 1985. 46:9–13.

17. Sands JR, Harrow M. Depression during the longitudinal course of schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull. 1999. 25:157–171.

18. Hafner H, Loffler W, Maurer K, Hambrecht M, an der Heiden W. Depression, negative symptoms, social stagnation and social decline in the early course of schizophrenia. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1999. 100:105–118.

19. Yung AR, McGorry PD. The prodromal phase of first-episode psychosis: past and current conceptualizations. Schizophr Bull. 1996. 22:353–370.

20. an der Heiden W, Hafner H. The epidemiology of onset and course of schizophrenia. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2000. 250:292–303.

21. Yan C, Cao Y, Zhang Y, Song LL, Cheung EF, Chan RC. Trait and state positive emotional experience in schizophrenia: a meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2012. 7:e40672.

22. Fassino S, Amianto F, Gastaldo L, Leombruni P. Anger and functioning amongst inpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder living in a therapeutic community. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2009. 63:186–194.

23. Frangos E, Athanassenas G, Tsitourides S, Katsanou N, Alexandrakou P. Prevalence of DSM III schizophrenia among the first-degree relatives of schizophrenic probands. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1985. 72:382–386.

24. Squires-Wheeler E, Skodol AE, Bassett A, Erlenmeyer-Kimling L. DSM-III-R schizotypal personality traits in offspring of schizophrenic disorder, affective disorder, and normal control parents. J Psychiatr Res. 1989. 23:229–239.

25. Owens DG, Miller P, Lawrie SM, Johnstone EC. Pathogenesis of schizophrenia: a psychopathological perspective. Br J Psychiatry. 2005. 186:386–393.

26. Costa PT Jr, McCrae RR. NEO PI-R professional manual. 1992. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.

27. Costa PT, Mccrae RR. Normal personality assessment in clinical practice: the NEO Personality Inventory. Psychol Assess. 1992. 4:5–13.

28. Trull TJ, Sher KJ. Relationship between the five-factor model of personality and Axis I disorders in a nonclinical sample. J Abnorm Psychol. 1994. 103:350–360.

29. Gottesman II, Gould TD. The endophenotype concept in psychiatry: etymology and strategic intentions. Am J Psychiatry. 2003. 160:636–645.

30. Lysaker PH, Lancaster RS, Nees MA, Davis LW. Neuroticism and visual memory impairments as predictors of the severity of delusions in schizophrenia. Psychiatry Res. 2003. 119:287–292.

31. Dinzeo TJ, Docherty NM. Normal personality characteristics in schizophrenia: a review of the literature involving the FFM. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2007. 195:421–429.

32. Kendler KS, Neale MC, Kessler RC, Heath AC, Eaves LJ. A longitudinal twin study of personality and major depression in women. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1993. 50:853–862.

33. Rodgers B. Behaviour and personality in childhood as predictors of adult psychiatric disorder. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 1990. 31:393–414.

34. Gleeson JF, Rawlings D, Jackson HJ, McGorry PD. Agreeableness and Neuroticism as Predictors of Relapse After First-Episode Psychosis. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2005. 193:160–169.

35. Garety PA, Kuipers E, Fowler D, Freeman D, Bebbington PE. A cognitive model of the positive symptoms of psychosis. Psychol Med. 2001. 31:189–195.

36. Van Os J, Jones PB. Neuroticism as a risk factor for schiozphrenia. Psychol Med. 2001. 31:1129–1134.

37. Potash JB, Bienvenu OJ. Neuropsychiatric disorders: Shared genetics of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Nat Rev Neurol. 2009. 5:299–300.

38. Potash JB. Carving chaos: genetics and the classification of mood and psychotic syndromes. Harv Rev Psychiatry. 2006. 14:47–63.

39. Onitsuka T, Nestor PG, Gurrera RJ, Shenton ME, Kasai K, Frumin M, et al. Association between reduced extraversion and right posterior fusiform gyrus gray matter reduction in chronic schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatry. 2005. 162:599–601.

40. Walsh E, Buchanan A, Fahy T. Violence and schizophrenia: examining the evidence. Br J Psychiatry. 2002. 180:490–495.