title: Understanding personality traits from early life experiences.
abstract: The contribution of early experiences towards the onset of personality disorder has often been stressed. However, the contribution to trait personality has received less attention. To examine the impact of early experiences on the development of personality, two subscale scores of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ): neuroticism (N) and extroversion (E), were used to assess a total of 220 residents of a rural city of Japan (aged > or =18 years). After controlling for age and social desirability response bias, the N score of men could be predicted by the experience of relocation; the E score of men by high parental care and low parental overprotection; and the E score of women by the experience of death of a sibling. Personality traits in a non-patient population may be explained by early experiences.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Kumamoto University School of Medicine, Kumamoto and Yamazumi Hospital, Yamanashi, Japan. kitamura@kaiju.medic.kumamoto-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Toshinori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kitamura
authors.forename: Shigeki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fujihara
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010553:Personality Development; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012424:Rural Population