Temperament and Character Personality Dimensions in Patients with Bipolar Mood Disorder-i

Abstract

Objectives: In the present study, Cloninger's dimensions of temperament and character have been investigated in patients with bipolar mood disorder-I (BMD-I), and obtained results were compared to those of healthy control participants from the general population. Method:This cross sectional study investigates 96 patients with BMD-I, selected based on DSM-IV-TR criteria, who are admitted into a psychiatry hospital due to an acute episode of mania, depression or mixed episode in year 2011 in Iran.After stabilization of acute phase, patients completed the 125-item Persian version of Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). Seven dimensions of temperament and character were compared between the designated bipolar group and 1212 healthy individuals via independent samples t-test. Moreover, the correlation between age,duration of disorder, and mood variables (depression and mania scores) with temperament and character inventory scores were assessed by Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results: Bipolar patients showed significantly higher harm avoidance (P=.001) and lower reward dependency (P=.001), persistence (P=.044), cooperativeness (P=.001), self-directedness (P=.001) and self-transcendence (P=.004) in comparison with healthy individuals. In females, Reward Dependency (P=0.001), Self-Directedness (P=0.001) and Cooperativeness (P=0.001) scores were lower. Furthermore, TCI scores had no significant correlation with scores related to depression and mania, duration of the disorder and marital status. Conclusion: Personality profile of patients with BMD-I differ from those of healthy individuals. Lower scores on Self-Directedness and Cooperativeness in bipolar patients seem to be related with more immature personality traits.