title: Personality and coping in first episode psychosis linked to mental health care use.
abstract: A body of literature focuses on associations of neuroticism, extraversion, passive coping and active coping with the course of psychotic illness. Less is known about other personality and coping variables - and underlying causal mechanisms between variables remain unclear. We explored causal effects from personality, coping and symptoms on mental health care consumption over two years in 208 first episode patients. Causal inference search algorithms lead to formation of a hypothetical causal model based on presumptions on (non-)mutuality between variables and consistent with data. Structural equation modelling estimated effect sizes conditionally on the causal model. Our observed model implies that none of the coping or personality variables have any effect on the number of days of hospitalisation, whereas general psychopathology symptoms do have a direct positive effect. For ambulatory care it is proposed that openness to experience, depressive symptoms and age have direct positive effects. Reassuring thoughts as a coping strategy seems to have a direct negative effect on the use of ambulatory care and mediates indirect effects of other personality and coping variables on ambulatory care. Furthermore, while previously established relations between personality and symptoms are confirmed by our model, it challenges traditional ideas about causation between personality and symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands; Department of Functional Assertive Community Treatment, GGNet, Apeldoorn/Zutphen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: Anneneeltje.Scholte-Stalenhoef@ggnet.nl.
authors.forename: Anne Neeltje
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Scholte-Stalenhoef
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sacha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: la Bastide-van Gemert
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Gerard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: van de Willige
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rianne
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dost-Otter
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Visser
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Edith J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Liemburg
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands; Lentis Research, Lentis Mental Healthcare Centre, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Henderikus
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Knegtering
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Edwin R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: van den Heuvel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Schoevers
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, University of Groningen, The Netherlands; Department of Psychotic Disorders, GGZ Drenthe, Assen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Gerdina H M
authors.initials: GHM
authors.lastname: Pijnenborg
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bruggeman
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010551:Personality; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Ambulatory care; Coping; Early psychosis; Hospitalisation; Personality