The relationship of personality traits to substance abuse in patients with bipolar disorder.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study is to determine if personality traits contribute to the likelihood of substance abuse in Bipolar Disorder (BD). SUBJECTS/MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-nine patients meeting DSM-IV criteria for BD: 20 without any history of Substance Related Disorder (SRD), 21 with a lifetime history of SRD but without current SRD, and 18 with current SRD. Patients filled out the TCI, the differences were analyzed by ANOVA and the likelihood was obtained by Multinomial Logistic Regression.


RESULTS
Only Novelty Seeking (NS) is statistically different between the groups. Patients with BD with current SRD have higher rates in NS than those with past SRD, and those without a history of SRD. NS was confirmed as a predicting variable, both to current SRD (OR [CI 95%]=1.039/1.351; p=0.011) and past SRD (OR [CI 95%]=1.004/1.277; p=0.042) on patients with BD.


CONCLUSIONS
The results shown would appear to confirm the relationship of NS with the SRD, so long as there is no clear evidence that indicates the association of NS with BD.


CONCLUSIONS
There appears a greater predisposition to develop SRD in those patients with a higher degree of NS. The use of the Cloninger's TCI could be used in BD to determine the risk of developing an SRD. Early detection might help improve prognosis.
Haro
Gonzalo
G
Dual Pathology Unit, Psychiatry Department, Hospital de la Ribera, C/Onda s/n, 46600 Alzira, Valencia, Spain. gharoc@comv.es
Calabrese
Joseph R
JR
Larsson
Christina
C
Shirley
Edwin R
ER
Martín
Eva
E
Leal
Carmen
C
Delgado
Pedro L
PL
D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D002605:Character; D015897:Comorbidity; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D013694:Temperament