Advancements in the field of personality development

A summary is provided what the fields of personality and developmental psychology had to offer each other the past decade, reflected in the eleven contributions enclosed in this special issue. Strengths and opportunities to further advance the field are identified, including the extension of general trait with maladaptive trait models, the use of alternative methods to assess personality, and the adoption of configural approaches to describe traits in individuals, beyond more traditional person-centered approaches.     

Working memory as a moderator of impulsivity and alcohol involvement: Testing the cognitive-motivational theory of alcohol use with prospective and working memory updating data

Research consistently shows that individuals high in impulsivity are at increased risk for excessive alcohol use and alcohol-related problems including alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Recent theorizing posits that working memory (WM) ability might moderate this association, but extant studies have suffered from methodological shortcomings, particularly mischaracterizing WM as a single, unitary construct and using only cross-sectional designs. This paper reports two studies that attempted to replicate and extend previous investigations of the relationship between WM, impulsivity, and alcohol involvement using two independent samples. Study 1 used a large (N = 489 at baseline), prospective cohort of college students at high and low risk for AUD to investigate interactions between WM capacity and impulsivity on cross-sectional and prospective alcohol involvement. Study 2 used a large (N = 420), cross-sectional sample of participants in an alcohol challenge study to investigate similar interactions between WM updating and impulsivity on recent alcohol involvement. Whereas Study 1 found that WM capacity moderates the relationship between some measures of impulsivity and alcohol involvement, with effects prospectively predicting alcohol involvement for up to three years, Study 2 did not find similar moderation effects when using measures of WM updating. These findings highlight the multifaceted nature of WM, which is often overlooked in the alcohol and impulsivity literature.     

Nine differentially expressed genes from a post mortem study and their association with suicidal status in a sample of suicide completers,attempters and controls

Several lines of evidence indicate that suicidal behaviour is partly heritable, with multiple genes implicated in its aetiology. We focused on nine genes (S100A13, EFEMP1, PCDHB5, PDGFRB, CDCA7L, SCN2B, PTPRR, MLC1 and ZFP36) which we previously detected as differentially expressed in the cortex of suicide victims compared to controls. We investigated 84 variants within these genes in 495 suicidal subjects (299 completers and 196 attempters) and 1513 controls (109 post-mortem and 1404 healthy). We evaluated associations with: 1) suicidal phenotype; 2) possible endophenotypes for suicidal behaviour. Overall positive results did not survive the correction threshold. However, we found a nominally different distribution of EFEMP1 genotypes, alleles and haplotypes between suicidal subjects and controls, results that were partially replicated when we separately considered the subgroup of suicide completers and post-mortem controls. A weaker association emerged also for PTPRR. Both EFEMP1 and PTPRR genes were also related to possible endophenotypes for suicidal behaviour such as anger, depression-anxiety and fatigue. Because of the large number of analyses performed and the low significance values further replication are mandatory. Nevertheless, neurotrophic gene variants, in particular EFEMP1 and PTPRR, may have a role in the pathogenesis of suicidal behaviour.     

大学生人格的年级变异性

目的探讨大学生人格变化与所处年级的关系。方法采用卡特尔人格问卷(16PF)对浙江农林大学健康管理专业大一至大三104名学生进行为期一学年前后测评。结果①具有统计学显著性变异的人格因子一年级有:C(t=2.079,P<0.05)、E(t=-3.606,P<0.01)、G(t=-2.456,P<0.05)、L(t=-4.86,P<0.01)、Q3(t=2.447,P<0.05)、Q4(t=-2.893,P<0.01);二年级有:E(t=-3.438,P<0.01)、I(t=3.369,P<0.01)、X3(t=-3.747,P<0.01)、Y2(t=-2.5277,P<0.05);三年级有:E((t=-2.832,P<0.01)、M(t=-3.092,P<0.01)、Q1(t=-2.361,P<0.05)、X4(t=-4.629,P<0.01)、Y2(t=-2.603,P<0.05);②不同年级相比,变异程度大的人格因子主要有C(t=-2.103,P<0.05)、I(t=2.321,P<0.05)、X1(t=2.25,P<0.05)、X3(t=-2.052,P<0.05);Q4(t=2.081,P<0.05)、X4(t=-2.322～-2.143,P<0.05)。结论大学生人格变异具有年级特点,一年级人格因子值提高的有C、Q3;降低的有E、G、L、Q4;二年级提高的有I,降低的有E、X3、Y2;三年级人格因子值降低的有E、M、Q1、X4、Y2。并且,情绪性因子变异程度较大。     

灼口综合征患者心理健康状况及相关因素分析

目的:探讨灼口综合征患者心理健康状况及相关因素。方法:采用抑郁自评量表(SDS)、焦虑自评量表(SAS)、艾森克人格问卷简式量表中国版(EPQ-RSC)以及医学应对方式问卷(MCMQ)对60例灼口综合征患者和对照组进行测评。结果:灼口综合征患者抑郁、焦虑情绪明显高于对照组,"回避"和"屈服"应对方式与抑郁情绪呈正相关;精神质、神经质和掩饰性人格与抑郁、焦虑情绪呈正相关。结论:灼口综合征患者并发较高程度的抑郁、焦虑症状,同时不同人格类型与应对方式对其焦虑、抑郁有较大影响。     

Looking at the dark and bright sides of identity formation: New insights from adolescents and emerging adults in Japan

The aim of the present study was to gain new insights into the dark and bright sides of identity formation with a sample of 1851 Japanese adolescents and emerging adults, applying a three-dimensional model of identity formation (i.e., commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration of commitment). By means of cluster analysis, we identified five statuses that strongly resembled statues extracted in prior research with Western youth: achievement, foreclosure, moratorium, diffusion, and searching moratorium. We found that each status reported a distinct profile in terms of personality and psychosocial problems. Importantly, we found that the searching moratorium status was adaptive in adolescence but not in emerging adulthood. These results suggest that the five statuses are replicable in Japanese adolescents and emerging adults, and that the searching moratorium status presents a combination of the bright and dark sides whose prevalence varies with age. Clinical implications for identity research and intervention programs are discussed.     

Physical health-related quality of life among older adults with personality disorders

Objectives: Personality Disorders (PDs) are associated with a multitude of negative consequences. The negative PD effects on health can be even more burdensome for older adults given the physical and social functioning changes that occur with age; however, the majority of research examining the influence of PDs focuses on younger adults. The present study seeks to investigate the relationship between PDs and physical health-related quality of life (PHRQoL) in adults over the age of 50.

Methods: Data for 16,884 adults ages 50 and older from the 2001–2002 National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) were analyzed. Multiple linear regression models were analyzed to investigate the relationships of seven PDs and participants’ PHRQoL.

Results: All PDs except histrionic and avoidant PD had statistically significant negative associations with PHRQoL scores, indicating that respondents diagnosed with PDs were expected to have lower PHRQoL than those without PDs, after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. When psychosocial covariates were added to the model, only dependent, obsessive-compulsive and paranoid PDs were significantly related to PHRQoL score.

Conclusions: For adults ages 50 and older, a diagnosis of PD was weakly associated with lower PHRQoL scores for three PDs, however this is unlikely to be a causal association. The strength of the relationship between PDs and PHRQoL varies by type of PD. Given the higher rates of functional and social changes that occur with age, future research should focus on potential causes of worse physical health among older adults with PDs.     

社会技能训练改良技术在精神分裂症患者中的应用

目的评价社会技能训练改良技术在精神分裂症患者中的应用价值并对其进行短期随访。方法选择宁波市康宁医院精神科2016年1月～2017年5月收治的80例精神分裂症患者为本次研究对象,采用EpiInfo(2000版)将患者随机分为对照组40例与观察组40例。对照组仅服用抗精神分裂药物,观察组在对照组基础上加行社会技能训练改良技术,干预结束后对比两组患者阳性与阴性症状评分量表(PANSS)评分、精神患者社会功能评定量表(SSPI)评分与简易人格问卷(NEO-FFI)评分,进行为期6个月随访,再次对比数据结果。结果干预结束后:PANSS评分两组患者阳性症状与一般症状方面数据比较,差异无统计学意义(P0.05),阴性症状与对照组比较,差异有统计学意义(P0.05);SSPI评分各方面均有统计学意义(P0.05);NEO-FFI评分两组患者(N)、(E)、(A)、(C)数据比较差异均有统计学意义(P0.05)。随访6个月:PANSS评分观察组3项症状评分均低于对照组,数据差异有统计学意义(P0.05);SSPI评分各方面均有统计学意义(P0.05);NEO-FFI评分两组患者(N)、(E)、(A)、(C)数据比较差异均有统计学意义(P0.05)。结论对精神分裂症患者开展社会技能训练改良技术能够显著改善患者阴性症状,提升社会功能及稳定人格特征,值得临床应用与基层医院推广。     

Suicide risk and suicide method in patients with personality disorders

ObjectiveThe influence of psychopathology on suicide method has revealed different distributions among different psychiatric disorders. However, evidence is still scarce. We hypothesized that having a diagnosis of personality disorder (PD) affect the suicide method, and that different PD clusters would influence the suicide method in different ways. In addition, we hypothesized that the presence of psychiatric and somatic co-morbidity also affects the suicide method.MethodWe examined 25,217 individuals aged 15–64 who had been hospitalized in Sweden with a main diagnosis of PD the years 1987–2013 (N = 25,217). The patients were followed from the date of first discharge until death or until the end of the follow-up period, i.e. December 31, 2013, for a total of 323,508.8 person-years, with a mean follow up time of 11.7 years. The SMR, i.e. the ratio between the observed number of suicides and the expected number of suicides, was used as a measure of risk.ResultsOverall PD, different PD-clusters, and comorbidity influenced the suicide method. Hanging evidenced highest SMR in female PD patients (SMR 34.2 (95% CI: 29.3–39.8)), as compared to non-PD patients and jumping among male PD patients (SMR 24.8 (95% CI: 18.3–33.6)), as compared to non PD-patients. Furthermore, the elevated suicide risk was related to both psychiatric and somatic comorbidity.ConclusionThe increased suicide risk was unevenly distributed with respect to suicide method and type of PD. However, these differences were only moderate and greatly overshadowed by the overall excess suicide risk in having PD. Any attempt from society to decrease the suicide rate in persons with PD must take these characteristics into account.