title: Personality traits of patients with multiple sclerosis and their relationship with clinical characteristics.
abstract: Few studies have investigated personality characteristics in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), and little is known about the relationship between personality and clinical characteristics in these patients. We aimed to investigate the personality traits of MS patients and their relationship with clinical characteristics. The study population consisted of 74 MS patients and age-matched, sex-matched, and education level-matched healthy controls. All participants were instructed to complete the self-administered 240-item Temperament and Character Inventory and the Beck Depression Inventory. The MS patients exhibited higher harm avoidance (HA) and lower self-directedness scores than the control group, although these differences disappeared after controlling for depression. Duration of the disease was positively correlated with HA and negatively correlated with novelty-seeking scores. Expanded Disability Status Scale scores were negatively correlated with reward dependence. Our results suggest a possible relationship between personality characteristics and the stage of the disease or the degree of damage in MS patients.
authors.affiliation: Departments of *Neurology, and †Psychiatry, Medical Faculty, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey; and ‡Department of Biostatistics, Ankara University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sibel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gazioglu
authors.forename: Vildan Altunayoglu
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Cakmak
authors.forename: Evrim
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ozkorumak
authors.forename: Nuray Can
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Usta
authors.forename: Can
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ates
authors.forename: Cavit
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000523:psychology*; D010551:Personality / Q000502:physiology*; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012201:Reward; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013694:Temperament / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult