The personality could help predict a bipolar disorder

Summary: New studies suggest that personality tests could help to measure the treatment of people with bipolar disorder by predicting who has more recurring depression or has to struggle with the daily life function. When analyzing data from over 2,500 people, researchers identified combinations of personality-characterized personality styles that either increasingly protect or protect against long-term psychological health risks.

High neuroticism consistently became a risk factor, while low neuroticism and other balanced feature profiles seemed to be protected. These results question the idea that the personality is determined and suggest that characteristics can be modified by therapy or coaching.

Key facts:

• Predictive: Specific personality traits of combinations predict the risk of depression.
• Changeable properties: Characteristics that are once considered to be firm can be improved by therapy.
• Personalized care: Personality tests could lead the tailor -made bipolar treatment planning.

Source: Michigan University

People with cancer, heart disease and other diseases expect treatments that their medical teams only “personalize” for them, based on tests.

But the care for mental illnesses has not yet come.

A new study now suggests that it could be possible to personalize the care of people with bipolar disorder using the results of detailed personality tests.

Research shows that such tests could help identify people with certain combinations of personality traits that could increase or reduce their risk of repeated depressive episodes or bad functioning in everyday life.

Based on data from more than 2,500 people with bipolar disorders that have taken part in two long-term studies, the researchers stated that certain personality-styles combinations of personality traits were included in predictors for bipolar knowledge.

These personality styles are more based on the characteristics of the person than on these characteristics between individuals. So you are very personalized.

The ratio of protective personality styles to risk -taking personality styles was particularly important.

The study by researchers of the Heinz C. Prechter -Bipolar research program at the University of Michigan is published in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

The senior author Kelly Ryan, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist and professor in the UM -Department of Psychiatry, notes that the personality tests used in the study are often used in psychological environments.

“These findings are really exciting because we do not know why some patients with bipolar disorder are more resistant and jump back or have fewer episodes of depression, but now we can see that this could be associated with the composition of their personality,” she said.

“We hope that this can ultimately inform the treatment planning that doctors do for patients, as they know who may be exposed to a higher risk.”

Patients could also react to the result of their personality tests and use them to understand their experiences and work with their clinics to change characteristics that could increase their long -term risk of depression and a bad life manager.

Personality features were once regarded as permanent features for everyone, but now there are indications that characteristics can change in the course of therapy or coaching.

For example, someone who can be used to search for new experiences

More about the study

Ryan and her colleagues from the long-term study of the Prechter program, which have collected data on hundreds of people with bipolar disorder for more than a decade.

The new study is based on a sample of 489 people with a bipolar disorder who carried out the revised neo-personality inventory (Neo Pi-R), a 240-point personality test, as well as a short questionnaire in the following clinical reviews about their degrees of depression and life functions every two months and/or every two years

The researchers distributed each person to their individual personality styles, which were based on the scores for different combinations of characteristics using their test results, a standard practice using the neo-Pi-R, and then looked at the number of most important depressive episodes and life functions of every person over time.

Some of the 30 personality styles had a higher risk of depression and poor functioning, while other personality styles were less risk.

It is not surprising that all personality styles that a high score for the personality trait called neuroticism (susceptible to emotional instability and negative thinking) increases the risk of depression. And styles that included a low score for neuroticism seemed to be protecting from depression.

Other personality styles in which neuroticism was not involved were also associated with a higher or lower risk of frequent depression episodes. The same was for the prediction of a bad life function, whereby the low neurotic levels seem to be particularly protective.

Then tested this framework for data from another group of over 2,000 people with a bipolar disorder who had registered for the step BD attempt and had carried out the shorter neo-five-factor inventory-personality test (Neo-FFI). The step BD group had its depression and life function every three months, which was measured by doctors.

Two thirds of the 12 personality risk, which had predicted a higher risk of depression in the Prechter Group, predicted this in this larger group, while 9 of the 16 styles that seemed protective in the Prechter group also seemed to have this protective effect in this group. This replication helps Ryan and her colleagues to trust the model that they have created using road data.

Ryan realizes that it is the interaction between personality styles and the balance between protection and risk determinations, which seems to be most important and may be used clinically to help people with bipolar more to have less depressive episodes and a higher functional function.

Financing: The study was financed by Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Fund and the Richard Tam Foundation.

In addition to Ryan, the authors of the study Anastasia K. Yocum, Yuhua Zhang, Peigong Han, David F. Marshall, Paul T. Costa, Sarah H. Sperry, Takakuni Suzuki, Melvin G. Mcinnis and Sebastian Zöllner.

Costa developed both personality tests together with Robert McCrae; The tests are published by par and available for licensed use.

Information on this personality and bipolar research messages

Author: Kara Gavin
Source: Michigan University
Contact: Kara Gavin – University of Michigan
Picture: The picture is attributed to neuroscience

Original research: Open Access.
“Predictive evidence of the effects of personality styles on depression and functions in two bipolar fault cohorts” by Kelly Ryan et al. Journal of affective disorders

Abstract

Predictions for the effects of personality styles on depression and functions in two bipolar fault cohorts

Predictors for the course of the disease in the event of bipolar disorder (BD) with replicable effect are difficult to identify. Potential predictors for results for BD that could affect practice include personality traits, especially neuroticism.

However, models usually do not take into account the common effect of several personality traits.

We examine whether personality traits (styles) improve our ability, to prospectively predict and function symptoms and functions in two independent cohorts for longitudinal research research.

In a sample of discovery of 489 and replication test of 2072 people with BD, we examined the effects of personality styles using the Neo Pi-R and Neo-FFI on depression and functions of up to 14 years.

Using a model, taking into account all ten possible personality-style combinations, the number of risk-related personality styles (styles associated with poor results) showed in relation to the number of protective styles in connection with protection (styles that are associated with better results) that for each additional risk-risk relatric with the number of depression by 11.8–15.0 % and the incident rate for bad Life functions were increased.

This similar pattern of increased risk modes, which are associated with a significant increase in depression and functionality, was replicated in the independent step-BD data set, but with slightly lower incident rate (5 % and 2.9 %). The cross -validation of the performance from both cohorts showed similar predictive patterns (5–11.2 % increases).

The ability to predict future depression and bad functions from the combined effects of personality traits can be clinically useful to identify people in whom there is a risk of poorer results.

Personality styles should be evaluated if long -term care plans and interventions are developed.