title: Harm Avoidance and Self-Directedness Characterize Fibromyalgic Patients and the Symptom Severity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Evidence in the literature suggests peculiar personality traits for fibromyalgic (FM) patients, and it has been suggested that personality characteristics may be involved in patients' different symptomatic events and responses to treatment. The aim of the study is to investigate the personality characteristics of Italian FM patients and to explore the possibility of clustering them considering both personality traits and clinical characteristics.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study used a cross-sectional methodology and involved a control group. A self-assessment procedure was used for data gathering. The study included 87 female FM patients and 83 healthy females. Patients were approached and interviewed in person during a psychiatric consultation. Healthy people were recruited from general practices with previous telephone contact.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants responded to the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Temperament and Character Inventory, the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire and the Short-Form-36 Health Survey.
  
  
  RESULTS
  FM patients scored significantly different from healthy participants on the Harm avoidance (HA), Novelty seeking (NS) and Self-directedness (SD). Two clusters were identified: patients in Cluster1 (n = 37) had higher scores on HA and lower scores on RD, SD, and Cooperativeness and reported more serious fibromyalgia and more severe anxious-depressive symptomatology than did patients in Cluster2 (n = 46).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study confirms the presence of certain personality traits in the FM population. In particular, high levels of HA and low levels of SD characterize a subgroup of FM patients with more severe anxious-depressive symptomatology. According to these findings, personality assessment could be useful in the diagnostic process to tailor therapeutic interventions to the personality characteristics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience "Rita Levi Montalcini", University of Turin Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Leombruni
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience "Rita Levi Montalcini", University of Turin Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zizzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience "Rita Levi Montalcini", University of Turin Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miniotti
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience "Rita Levi Montalcini", University of Turin Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Colonna
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Turin Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Lorys
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Castelli
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology Unit, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Cittá della Salute e della Scienza di Torino Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fusaro
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience "Rita Levi Montalcini", University of Turin Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Torta
keywords: Italian sample; character; fibromyalgia; personality; temperament