Big Five personality traits and medically unexplained symptoms in later life

Dijk, S.D. van; Hanssen, Denise; Naarding, Paul; Comijs, Hannie C.; Voshaar, Richard C. Oude

doi:10.1016/j.eurpsy.2016.05.002

Cited by 40 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Traditionally, high Agreeableness in adult lifespan is thought to be a positive trait of personality being associated with increased subjective well-being (39), better outcome in mental health treatments (40), less disengagement coping (41), and less sexual aggressive behavior (42). In old age, higher Agreeableness levels have been instead associated with poorer executive performance and neurocognitive functions (43)(44)(45) and medically unexplained symptoms (46). The role of higher levels of Conscientiousness in old age is equally ambiguous.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personality Factors' Impact on the Structural Integrity of Mentalizing Network in Old Age: A Combined PET-MRI Study

et al. 2020

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The mentalizing network (MN) treats social interactions based on our understanding of other people's intentions and includes the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), temporoparietal junction (TPJ), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), precuneus (PC), and amygdala. Not all elders are equally affected by the aging-related decrease of mentalizing abilities. Personality has recently emerged as a strong determinant of functional connectivity in MN areas. However, its impact on volumetric changes across the MN in brain aging is still unknown. To address this issue, we explored the determinants of volume decrease in MN components including amyloid burden, personality, and APOE genotyping in a previously established cohort of 130 healthy elders with a mean follow-up of 54 months. Personality was assessed with the Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory-Revised. Regression models corrected for multiple comparisons were used to identify predictors of volume loss including time, age, sex, personality, amyloid load, presence of APOE epsilon 4 allele, and cognitive evolution. In cases with higher Agreeableness scores, there were lower volume losses in PCC, PC, and amygdala bilaterally. This was also the case for the right mPFC in elders displaying lower Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. In multiple regression models, the effect of Agreeableness was still observed in left PC and right amygdala and that of Conscientiousness was still observed in right mPFC volume loss (26.3% of variability, significant age and sex). Several Agreeableness (Modesty) and Conscientiousness (order, dutifulness, achievement striving, and self-discipline) facets were positively related to increased volume loss in cortical components of the MN. In conclusion, these data challenge the beneficial role of higher levels of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness in old age, showing that they are associated with an increased rate of volume loss within the MN.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personality Factors' Impact on the Structural Integrity of Mentalizing Network in Old Age: A Combined PET-MRI Study

et al. 2020

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“…From the largest study on comorbidity rates emerged that 50.6% of patients suffering from MUPS has a personality disorder. Other authors showed that MUPS are often associated to affective disorders, primarily depression, and especially in later life ( 24 , 25 ). The role of inflammation in major depressive disorder (MDD) and the impact of exposure to early stressful events in increasing the vulnerability to develop psychopathologies may represent a possible common ground in developing physical symptoms, involving similar underlying pathogenic mechanisms ( 26 – 28 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms in Hospitalized Patients: A 9-Year Retrospective Observational Study

et al. 2018

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Introduction: “Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms” (MUPS) defines a subgroup of patients presenting physical symptoms of unclear origin. The study aims to profile clinical and socio-demographic characteristics of patients with MUPS.Materials and Methods: This 9-years observational retrospective study assesses all patients admitted between 2008 and 2016 in the divisions of neurology and gastroenterology. Socio-demographic and clinical variables were evaluated: gender, age, diagnosis or diagnostic hypothesis, presence of psychiatric comorbidities, psychiatric evaluation, pharmacological treatment, number of admissions/visits.Results: Among 2,479 neurological patients 10.1% presented MUPS. Patients were more frequently women (63.5%), with a mean age of about 50 years. Reported symptoms were headache (22.6%), seizures (8.7%), vertigo (5.9%), fibromyalgia (5.5%), paresthesia (5.1%), visual disturbances (5.1%), amnesia (3.9%). The diagnosis was somatoform disorder in 6.3% of cases, conversion disorder in 2.7%, and somatic symptom disorder in 1.5% only. 2,560 outpatients were evaluated in gastroenterology division. 9.6% (n = 248) of patients had MUPS; 62.1% of them were women. The most affected age group ranged between 15 and 45 years. The most frequent diagnoses were functional abdominal pain (50%), dysmotility-like dyspepsia (26.6%), irritable bowel syndrome (10.4%), meteorism of unknown cause (2.4%), hiccup (1.6%), burning mouth syndrome (1.2%). No patients received a diagnosis of somatic symptom disorder.Discussion: Patients with MUPS are more often women, of middle age, with self-referred specific symptomatology. While neurological patients received a diagnostic-therapeutic approach in line with the literature, gastroenterological patients mainly received antipsychotics. A more comprehensive assessment and a development of psychoeducational interventions are needed to improve patients' quality and quantity of life.

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“…A hypothesis states that one of the most clinically noticeable problems of the patient with somatization is personality dysfunction. The estimated comorbidity of somatization and personality malfunction varies from 48 to 72% [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Explanation of somatic symptoms by mental health and personality traits: application of Bayesian regularized quantile regression in a large population study

et al. 2019

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Background Somatic syndrome is one of the remarkably prevalent issues in primary health care and subspecialty settings. We aimed to elucidate multidimensional associations between somatic symptoms with major mental problems and personality traits in the framework of the quantile regression model with a Bayesian approach. Methods A total of 4763 employees at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences and Health Services in Isfahan province, Iran, filled out four validated questionnaires including Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), NEO Questionnaire, General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and PHQ-15 for somatic symptom severity. In addition, Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (FGIDs) were determined using Rome IV criteria. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Bayesian regularized quantile regression with adaptive LASSO penalization were applied for reduced dimension of somatic symptoms and variable selection and parameter estimation, respectively. Results The 25 major somatic symptoms were grouped into four factors including general, upper gastrointestinal, lower gastrointestinal and respiratory by EFA. Stress, depression, and anxiety had significant effects on all of the four extracted factors. The effect of anxiety in each four extracted factors was more than stress and depression. Neuroticism and agreeableness had significant effects on all of the four extracted factors, generally ( p < 0.05). Conclusions Given the high prevalence of somatic symptoms and psychosomatic complaints in correlation with the diverse range of mental co-morbidities, developing more detailed diagnostic tools and methods is crucial; nonetheless, it seems that providing better interdisciplinary approaches in general medical practice is groundwork.

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Big Five personality traits and medically unexplained symptoms in later life

Abstract: Older patients with MUS have a specific personality profile, comparable to MES patients. Health anxiety and somatization may be better indicators of psychopathology than whether a physical symptom is medically explained or not.

Cited by 40 publications

References 60 publications

Personality Factors' Impact on the Structural Integrity of Mentalizing Network in Old Age: A Combined PET-MRI Study

Personality Factors' Impact on the Structural Integrity of Mentalizing Network in Old Age: A Combined PET-MRI Study

Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms in Hospitalized Patients: A 9-Year Retrospective Observational Study

Explanation of somatic symptoms by mental health and personality traits: application of Bayesian regularized quantile regression in a large population study

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