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Normal Personality (normal + personality)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Psychology	60%
Medical Sciences	40%

Selected Abstracts

Girls with anorexia nervosa as young adults: Personality, self-esteem, and life satisfaction

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EATING DISORDERS, Issue 4 2006
Inger Halvorsen MD
Abstract Objective: The current study evaluated personality, self-esteem, and life satisfaction in former patients with different outcomes of childhood and adolescent-onset anorexia nervosa (AN). Methods: Forty-four female patients with AN were assessed 8.5 ± SD 3.4 years after treatment start with a clinical interview and questionnaires including the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Self-esteem and general life satisfaction in former patients were compared with women in a large population study. Results: Former AN patients with no eating disorder and normal eating attitudes at follow-up (n = 21 [48%]) had similar TCI profiles and self-esteem as samples from normal populations, whereas participants with poorer outcome had significantly lower TCI Self Directedness, self-esteem, and life satisfaction scores. Life satisfaction was reduced in all outcome groups and was strongly associated with self-esteem. Conclusion: Personality, self-esteem, and life satisfaction varied significantly between outcome groups. The results indicate that young patients with AN with a good outcome may have normal personality and self-esteem features in young adulthood. © 2006 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., Int J Eat Disord, 2006 [source]

Dimensions of Normal and Abnormal Personality: Elucidating DSM-IV Personality Disorder Symptoms in Adolescents

JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 3 2010
Noor B. Tromp
ABSTRACT The present study aimed to elucidate dimensions of normal and abnormal personality underlying DSM-IV personality disorder (PD) symptoms in 168 adolescents referred to mental health services. Dimensions derived from the Big Five of normal personality and from Livesley's (2006) conceptualization of personality pathology were regressed on interview-based DSM-IV PD symptom counts. When examined independently, both models demonstrated significant levels of predictive power at the higher order level. However, when added to the higher order Big Five dimensions, Livesley's higher and lower order dimensions afforded a supplementary contribution to the understanding of dysfunctional characteristics of adolescent PDs. In addition, they contributed to a better differentiation between adolescent PDs. The present findings suggest that adolescent PDs are more than extreme, maladaptive variants of higher order normal personality traits. Adolescent PDs seem to encompass characteristics that may be more completely covered by dimensions of abnormal personality. Developmental issues and implications of the findings are discussed. [source]

Normal and Abnormal Personality Traits: Evidence for Genetic and Environmental Relationships in the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart

JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 5 2002
Kristian E. Markon
ABSTRACT Recent studies have demonstrated substantial correlations between normal and abnormal personality traits. Yet little is known about how these correlations are mediated genetically and environmentally: Do normal and abnormal personality traits stem from the same underlying genes and environments? We addressed this question using data from 128 monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs in the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart (MISTRA). Additive genetic and nonshared environmental correlations between scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI),an index of abnormal personality,and the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ),an index of normal personality,were estimated. Results indicated that phenotypic correlations between normal and abnormal personality were mediated by genetic as well as environmental factors, although the magnitude of genetic mediation tended to be larger overall. Moreover, the patterns of phenotypic, genetic, and environmental relationships among the scales were similar, suggesting that influences on normal and abnormal personality act through systems common to both. It is suggested that future research focus on the neurogenetic substrates of these shared systems and how dysfunction in these systems influences development of disordered personality. [source]

Personality and the predisposition(s) to bipolar disorder: heuristic benefits of a two-dimensional model

BIPOLAR DISORDERS, Issue 5 2007
Greg Murray
Objectives:, The aim of this study was to model normal personality correlates of the predisposition(s) to bipolar disorder (BD), and in so doing explore the proposition that the tendency to bipolar depression [trait depression (T-Depression)] and the tendency to mania [trait mania (T-Mania)] can usefully be viewed as separable but correlated dimensions of BD predisposition. Methods:, A well student sample (n = 176, modal age 18,25 years, 71% female) completed the NEO Personality Inventory,Revised and the General Behavior Inventory. Results:, A good-fitting model (normed ,2 = 0.60, significance of ,2 = 0.73) was identified in which T-Depression was determined solely by neuroticism, while T-Mania was determined by extraversion and (negative) agreeableness. The pathway from T-Depression to T-Mania was also significant (standardized regression weight = 0.80), with a weaker significant reciprocal path (coefficient = 0.27). A model in which bipolar vulnerability was represented as a single dimension (T-Bipolarity) also provided a good fit to the data, but provided less heuristic power. Conclusions:, Predisposition to BD can be usefully understood in terms of two reciprocally related dimensions of vulnerability (T-Depression and T-Mania), which can be separated on the basis of their personality correlates. [source]

Serotonin, personality and borderline personality disorder

ACTA NEUROPSYCHIATRICA, Issue 2 2002
M. Hansenne
Serotonin is one of the neurotransmitters implicated in normal personality. Many psychobiological models of personality include some dimensions related to serotonin. For instance, the harm avoidance dimension of the biosocial model developed by Cloninger is related to serotonergic activity. Higher scores on the harm avoidance dimension should theoretically reflect increased serotonergic activity. However, correlation studies related serotonin activity to harm avoidance dimension have not yielded consistent findings. These controversial results are probably related to the complexity of the neurotransmitter systems, and the different assessment techniques used in these studies. Finally, recent genetic studies have examined the association between personality dimensions and serotonergic receptor polymorphisms with mixed results. Serotonin is not only related to some dimensions of normal personality. Several psychopathological disorders are associated with serotonergic dysfunction. More particularly, borderline personality disorder (BPD) can be defined by many of the symptoms associated with serotonergic dysregulation, including affective lability, suicidal behaviours, impulsivity and loss of impulse control. Indeed, several reports have demonstrated the efficacy of selective serotonin re-uptake drugs in treating the depressive and impulsive symptoms of patients with BPD. Moreover, some challenge studies have reported a lower serotonergic activity in BPD. Because these challenges are not specific, we have assessed the serotonergic activity in BPD with the flesinoxan challenge. Preliminary results showed that the prolactine responses to flesinoxan were significantly lower in BPD patients compared to those observed in controls. [source]