Personality change following head injury: assessment with the NEO Five-Factor Inventory.
We evaluated personality change following head injury in 68 patients at 6 months postinjury using the NEO Five-Factor Inventory to assess the five personality dimensions of the Five-Factor Model of Personality. All items had to be rated twice, once for the preinjury and once for the current status. Twenty-eight trauma patients with injuries to other parts of the body than the head were used as controls. For the head-injured group, 63 relatives also completed the questionnaire. The results showed no differences between the ratings of head-injured patients and the ratings of trauma control patients. Both groups showed significant change in the personality dimensions Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness. Compared to their relatives, head-injured patients report a smaller change in Extraversion and Conscientiousness. Changes were not reported on the Openness and Agreeableness scales, by neither the head-injured or their relatives, nor by the trauma controls.
Lannoo
E
E
Department of Neuropsychology, University Gent, Belgium. Engelien.Lannoo@rug.ac.be
de Deyne
C
C
Colardyn
F
F
de Soete
G
G
Jannes
C
C
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results