Effects of antianxiety drug and personality on stress-inducing psychomotor performance test.
The present study was carried out to clarify the effects of an antianxiety drug and of personality characteristics on a psychomotor performance test. Forty-eight healthy women college students were chosen from 64 volunteers as having either high or low levels of trait anxiety, neuroticism, or extroversion. Subjects with high trait anxiety and/or neuroticism tended to show a decrease in both speed and accuracy of the mirror drawing test (MDT) in the initial nondrug trials. Bromazepam, 5 mg, a benzodiazepine derivative, decreased this decrement in highly anxious subjects but worsened the speed in less anxious subjects. The personality traits of subjects, as well as the degree to which a performance test will induce stress, must be considered when evaluating the effects of antianxiety drugs on the performance of normal volunteers. The clinical anxiety-reducing efficacy of drugs may be predicted by using the MDT in subjects with high levels of anxiety and/or neuroticism.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D001960:Bromazepam / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005120:Extraversion, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000187:drug effects*; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D010551:Personality; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects*
D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D001960:Bromazepam