The Five-Factor Model of Personality and the Staging Model in Youth at Risk for Serious Mental Illness
Poster B79, Tuesday, October%209, 11:30%20am%20-%201:00%20pm, Essex%20Ballroom
Olga Santesteban-Echarri1, Glenda MacQueen1, Benjamin I. Goldstein2,3, Jian L. Wang4,5, Sidney H. Kennedy6,7,8,9,10, Signe Bray1,11,12, Catherine Catherine1,11,12, Jean Addington1; 1Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Department of Psychiatry, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta Canada, 2Centre for Youth Bipolar Disorder, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario Canada, 3Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario Canada, 4Work & Mental health Research Unit, Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario Canada, 5School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario Canada, 6Department of Psychiatry, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario Canada, 7Department of Psychiatry, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Ontario Canada, 8Arthur Sommer Rotenberg Chair in Suicide and Depression Studies, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Ontario Canada, 9Arthur Sommer Rotenberg Chair in Suicide and Depression Studies, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Ontario Canada, 10Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario Canada, 11Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta Canada, 12Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, Alberta Canada; 13 Child & Adolescent Imaging Research (CAIR) Program, Calgary, Alberta Canada
Personality profiles scoring high in neuroticism and low on extraversion and agreeableness have been reported for youth at clinical high-risk for psychosis; high neuroticism and openness, and low extraversion are associated with depression; high extraversion and openness with mania; and high neuroticism with anxiety disorders. It is plausible that certain premorbid personality traits may be related or lead to higher risk of developing a severe mental illness (SMI). However, little is known about earlier stages of risk and the characterization of personality profiles for youth at-risk for SMI. In the PROCAN study, we examined personality characteristics in a large sample of youth at-risk for SMI using the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) for 41 non-help seeking youth with risk factors for SMI (Stage 0), 52 distressed youth with early mood and anxiety symptoms (Stage 1a), 105 youth with subthreshold psychotic symptoms (Stage 1b), and 42 healthy controls (HCs). One-way ANOVA group comparisons revealed that the groups were statistically different in neuroticism (F=36.81, p<.001), extraversion (F=20.77, p<.001), agreeableness (F=4.44, p=.005), and conscientiousness (F=13.25, p<.001). Post-hoc Tukey’s testing revealed that participants in Stage 1b and 1a scored higher in neuroticism, and lower in extraversion and conscientiousness than participants in Stage 0 and HCs. Participants in Stage 1b scored lower than those in Stage 0 in agreeableness. Therefore, youth at-risk for SMI who present with early signs of mood, anxiety or subthreshold psychotic symptoms seem to present a personality profile reflecting an individual who is undergoing significant distress and has poor coping mechanisms.
Topic Area: Ultra High Risk / Prodromal Research