Personality trait predictors of bipolar disorder symptoms

Received 29 February 2008; received in revised form 3 July 2008; accepted 12 July 2008.

Abstract

The purpose of the current investigation was to examine the personality predictors of bipolar disorder symptoms, conceptualized as one-dimensional (bipolarity) or two-dimensional (mania and depression). A psychiatric sample (N=370; 45% women; mean age 39.50 years) completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory —2. A model in which bipolar symptoms were represented as a single dimension provided a good fit to the data. This dimension was predicted by Neuroticism and (negative) Agreeableness. A model in which bipolar symptoms were represented as two separate dimensions of mania and depression also provided a good fit to the data. Depression was associated with Neuroticism and (negative) Extraversion, whereas mania was associated with Neuroticism, Extraversion and (negative) Agreeableness. Symptoms of bipolar disorder can be usefully understood in terms of two dimensions of mania and depression, which have distinct personality correlates.

Keywords: Depression, Mania, Personality, Trait, Five Factor Model, MMPI-2

a Clinical Research Department, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada

b Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

c Department of Psychology, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA

d Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

Corresponding author. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 250 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5T 1R8. Tel.: +1 416 535 8501x6939; fax: +1 416 260 4125.

PII: S0165-1781(08)00224-2

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2008.07.004

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