title: Reliability of the NEO Five Factor Inventory short form for assessing personality after stroke.
abstract: It is well recognized that an individual's personality characteristics influence their psychological adjustment after stroke. However, there is a lack of research on the reliability of personality inventories for stroke. This study primarily aimed to evaluate the reliability of the Neuroticism, Extroversion, Openness to Experience (NEO)-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) for assessing pre-morbid personality and personality changes after stroke. Further aims were to investigate changes in personality during the hospital-to-home transition period and examine associations between personality and mood.
  
  
  
  Forty participants with stroke (52.5% male, M age=65.55 years) were recruited at time of hospital discharge and completed the NEO-FFI, Centre for Epidemiologic Studies - Depression and Geriatric Anxiety Inventory. Significant others completed an informant version of the NEO-FFI. Stroke participants were re-assessed on the NEO-FFI at 1-month and 4-months post-discharge. Forty matched controls also completed the NEO-FFI.
  
  
  
  Internal consistency was adequate for the NEO-FFI (α=0.57-0.86), although low for agreeableness. There was fair to excellent concordance between self-rated and informant versions of the NEO-FFI (ICC=0.58-0.78). Significant positive associations were found between neuroticism and mood (r=0.50-0.68), and significant negative associations were found between extraversion and mood (r=-0.33-0.36) and agreeableness and anxiety (r=-0.43). Self-ratings of stroke participants on the NEO-FFI at discharge did not significantly differ from matched controls. Extraversion levels significantly decreased, and agreeableness levels significantly increased between discharge and 1- and 4-months post-discharge.
  
  
  
  Overall, the results support the reliability of the NEO-FFI for assessing personality characteristics in the context of stroke.
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Psychology and Menzies Health Institute Queensland,Griffith University,Brisbane,Australia.
authors.forename: Toni
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1604-3243
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dwan
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Psychology and Menzies Health Institute Queensland,Griffith University,Brisbane,Australia.
authors.forename: Tamara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ownsworth
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Psychology and Menzies Health Institute Queensland,Griffith University,Brisbane,Australia.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Donovan
authors.affiliation: Princess Alexandra Hospital,Brisbane,Australia.
authors.forename: Ada Ho Yan
authors.initials: AHY
authors.lastname: Lo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D001315:Australia; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment; D057566:Self Report; D020521:Stroke / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: NEO-FFI; Stroke; anxiety; depression; personality