Personality and the bipolar spectrum: normative and classification data for the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised.
BACKGROUND
Personality traits dispose individuals toward particular affective states and may therefore have an important role in the etiology of affective disorders in particular. Despite being one of the most widely used and well-researched personality instruments, few studies have studied bipolar spectrum disorders using the revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ-R) (Eysenck HJ, Eysenck SBG. The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised. Sevenoaks: UK; Hodder & Stoughton, 1992).


METHODS
The EPQ-R was administered to 50 bipolar patients, 50 unipolar patients, and 50 controls matched on age and sex. Participants in clinical groups were euthymic, and participants in the control groups were screened for symptoms of depression.


RESULTS
The EPQ-R scores were most effective at discriminating unipolar patients from controls, such that unipolar patients were higher on neuroticism and lower on extraversion. Bipolar patients showed a similar personality profile to, but were not clearly distinguished from, unipolar patients.


CONCLUSIONS
This research provides preliminary normative data for the EPQ-R that complement previous theoretical and empirical work in this area and suggests the usefulness of this tool in a clinical setting.
Smillie
Luke D
LD
Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK. l.smillie@gold.ac.uk
Bhairo
Yohan
Y
Gray
Joanna
J
Gunasinghe
Cerisse
C
Elkin
Amanda
A
McGuffin
Peter
P
Farmer
Anne
A
D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010555:Personality Inventory; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index