Neuroticism may have great impact on mental and physical health in both sexes. The aims of this study were to explore whether relationships between neuroticism scores and psychosocial indicators as well as metabolic syndrome in a population of incoming university students existed in the different sexes. In total, 4266 incoming students were included in this study. The test battery comprised a self-administered structured questionnaire, including the neuroticism subscale of the Maudsley Personality Inventory, the 12-item Chinese Health Questionnaire, the Chinese Internet Addiction Scale-Revision, the measurement of support functions, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Multivariate logistic regression showed that higher Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores, higher Chinese Internet Addiction Scale-Revision scores, and higher 12-item Chinese Health Questionnaire scores were significantly correlated with neuroticism in both sexes, but lower perceived routine support: measurement of support functions scores were associated only with the male participants. No significant differences were found in terms of body mass index or other metabolic profiles. Individuals with poorer mental health and a poorer personal lifestyle had higher neuroticism scores, and sex effects may influence the scale of perceived social support in the neuroticism group. However, the lack of an association between neuroticism score and metabolic syndrome may be due to the recruitment of younger participants in this study.

IntroductionSelf-harm patients utilize many resources. This is especially so for those with underlying maladaptive personality traits, which, have not been examined locally.AimTo estimate the prevalence of maladaptive personality traits in self-harm patients.MethodologyA 5-months cross sectional study was conducted at Changi General Hospital (CGH). English-speaking patients over 21 years old admitted for self-harm behavior were recruited into our study after being referred to our consultation liaison team. The ICD-10 (WHO 1993) was used for psychiatric diagnoses, and the International Personality Disorders Examination (IPDE) ICD-10 version screening questionnaire and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) 21 were administered. STATA version 10.1 was used for statistical analyses.ResultsOf all patients referred, forty patients were eligible and 37 of them consented to participate in the study. All participants were screened positive for at least one class of maladaptive personality traits, with the majority (89.19%) being screened positive for more than 1 class of maladaptive traits. The three most prevalent classes of maladaptive traits were anankastic (75.68%), schizoid (67.57%) and paranoid (62.16%). More than three quarters (78.38%) of the participants had 3 or more classes of maladaptive traits.ConclusionsMaladaptive personality traits are common and inherent in self-harm patients, with majority of them exhibiting anankastic, schizoid and paranoid traits in this study. Understanding the nature of maladaptive traits in self-harm patients can help us in tailoring future interventions towards such self-harm behavior to bring about improvements in psychiatric care, reduction of self-harm frequency and reduce health care cost.