Arash Mani1, Anahita Rostami2, Elham Aflaki3, Parsa Ravanfar4. 1. Research Center for Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Iran. 2. School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Iran. 3. Department of rheumatology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Iran. 4. Research Center for Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Electronic address: ravanfarpa@sums.ac.ir.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In addition to identified neuropsychiatric characteristic of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), changes in personality seem to occur in patients with SLE. Even in absence of an axis I psychiatric diagnosis, personality variations play important role in general wellbeing of these patients. This study investigated personality features in patients with SLE using Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). METHOD: In this case-control study personality features of 59 patients with confirmed diagnosis of SLE were evaluated using Persian version of TCI-125 questionnaire. Collected data from patients with SLE were statistically compared with normative data for Iranian population. RESULTS: Among four subscales of temperament, reward dependence (RD) and harm-avoidance (HA) were significantly lower than general population. Self-directedness (SD) character dimension was significantly lower in SLE patients compared to normative data. No significant difference was noted in novelty-seeking (NS) and persistence (PS) temperament scales and cooperativeness (CO) and self-transcendence (ST) character scales. CONCLUSION: Personality changes in SLE is characterized by higher HA and RD along with low SD. These features are associated with higher anxiety, social withdrawal and lower resourcefulness and purposefulness.
BACKGROUND: In addition to identified neuropsychiatric characteristic of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), changes in personality seem to occur in patients with SLE. Even in absence of an axis I psychiatric diagnosis, personality variations play important role in general wellbeing of these patients. This study investigated personality features in patients with SLE using Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). METHOD: In this case-control study personality features of 59 patients with confirmed diagnosis of SLE were evaluated using Persian version of TCI-125 questionnaire. Collected data from patients with SLE were statistically compared with normative data for Iranian population. RESULTS: Among four subscales of temperament, reward dependence (RD) and harm-avoidance (HA) were significantly lower than general population. Self-directedness (SD) character dimension was significantly lower in SLEpatients compared to normative data. No significant difference was noted in novelty-seeking (NS) and persistence (PS) temperament scales and cooperativeness (CO) and self-transcendence (ST) character scales. CONCLUSION: Personality changes in SLE is characterized by higher HA and RD along with low SD. These features are associated with higher anxiety, social withdrawal and lower resourcefulness and purposefulness.