Biomedical subjects

Thomas R Przybeck

Publications and source records attributed to Thomas R Przybeck.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Can personality assessment predict future depression? A twelve-month follow-up of 631 subjects.

BACKGROUND: Personality assessment provides a description of a person's fundamental emotional needs and of the higher cognitive processes that modulate thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Prior studies by us examined personality and mood at the same time. Assessing personality may allow prediction of mood changes over time in a longitudinal study, as described in earlier prospective studies by Paula Clayton and others. METHOD: A group of 631 adults representative of the general population completed the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and Center for Epidemiological Studies depression scale (CES-D) at baseline and one year later. RESULTS: TCI scores at baseline accounted for gender differences in levels of depression. TCI personality scores were strongly stable (range in r=.78 to .85 for each of seven dimensions) whereas mood was only moderately stable (r=.62) over the twelve-month follow-up. Baseline personality scores (particularly high Harm Avoidance and low Self-Directedness) explained 44% of the variance in the change in depression. Baseline levels and changes in Harm Avoidance and Self-Directedness explained 52% of the variance in the change in depression at follow-up. LIMITATIONS: The follow-up sample was representative of the target population except for slightly lower Novelty Seeking scores. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Observable personality levels strongly predict mood changes. Personality development may reduce vulnerability to future depression.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Diet and personality: associations in a population-based sample.

BACKGROUND: Large portions of the population of the United States of America fail to follow dietary recommendations. Psychological factors may contribute to non-adherence. OBJECTIVE: Establish the associations between heritable personality styles, attitudes towards food, and habitual eating behavior. DESIGN: Variables were assessed by questionnaire in a population-based sample of 629 subjects. Associations were established using correlation and regression analysis, taking gender, demographic, lifestyle and other factors into account. RESULTS: Differences in personality style were reflected in diet. For example, hostility and anxiety-proneness was associated with greater likelihood to continue eating when satiated, while sociability and low impulsivity correlated with greater monitoring and control of dietary intake and body weight. Immaturity, aloofness, self-consciousness and self-gratification were associated with greater susceptibility to hunger and lack of persistence with increased snack and alcohol consumption. These associations differed for the sexes and were stronger for attitudes towards food than actual eating behavior. Taking other factors into account reduced the number of significant associations between diet and personality, particularly for habitual eating behavior. CONCLUSIONS: Associations exist between personality and diet. However, the strength of these associations is influenced by demographic, lifestyle and other factors. These findings have implications for future studies and efforts aimed at changing unhealthy dietary habits.

Attitude to Health↗

PubMed2005

Prevalence and predictors of pathological gambling: results from the St. Louis personality, health and lifestyle (SLPHL) study.

OBJECTIVES: We report the prevalence of and risk and protective factors for DSM-IV sub-threshold gambling (1-4 criteria) and pathological gambling disorder (PGD; 5-10 criteria) in a non-clinical household sample of St. Louis area gamblers. METHODS: Of the 7689 individuals contacted via Random Digit Dialing, 3292 were screened eligible. Of these, 1142 from households in 6 contiguous regions in Missouri and Illinois consented to participate and were mailed a St. Louis Area Personality, Health, and Lifestyle (SLPHL) Survey. RESULTS: Post-stratification weighted data (n=913) indicate lifetime prevalence rates of 12.4% sub-threshold and 2.5% PGD (conditional prevalence=21.5% and 4.3% respectively). Risk and protective factors for gambling severity varied in the sample. CONCLUSIONS: Targeted prevention messages are warranted specifically for gamblers of varying risk for PGD.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Relationship between specialty choice and medical student temperament and character assessed with Cloninger Inventory.

BACKGROUND: Multiple variables affect medical specialty choice, including temperament, sociodemographic factors, and personal experiences. Many studies address specific variables for specific specialties, but few assess the relative impact of each factor. PURPOSE: To identify the relative influence of temperament in choosing a specialty. METHODS: A sociodemographic and personal experiences questionnaire and a 240-question temperament and character inventory was distributed to 682 medical students. Their scores for 6 medical specialties were examined using analyses of variance, multivariate analyses of variance, and discriminant analysis. RESULTS: Students choosing surgery, emergency medicine, and obstetrics and gynecology were higher on novelty seeking than other students. Future surgeons were lower in harm avoidance and reward dependence (RD) than the others. Students choosing primary care specialties, emergency medicine, and obstetrics and gynecology were all high on RD; with pediatrics being highest. Students differed from college students, the women differed from the men, and the Asian Americans differed from the other groups. CONCLUSION: The implications of these findings are discussed for career counseling and future research.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Personality and depressive symptoms: a multi-dimensional analysis.

BACKGROUND: The relationship of temperamental aspects of personality to symptoms of depression in a community-based sample of 804 individuals was examined using a multi-dimensional approach to account for heterogeneity in symptom patterns. METHOD: The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) was used to assess personality and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D) was used to measure depressive symptoms. Canonical correlation analysis was used to relate CES-D item combinations to temperament traits in multiple dimensions. The relationships between temperament and various conditions correlated with depression were examined using logistic regression. RESULTS: Temperamental aspects of personality are related not only to total CES-D score, but also to the patterns of CES-D items endorsed by subjects. High Harm Avoidance is related to total CES-D score; high Reward Dependence combined with high Persistence is associated with restless sleep and subjective symptoms; high Reward Dependence combined with low Persistence is negatively associated with appetite loss and low energy; high Novelty Seeking is related to maintenance of positive affect and inability to concentrate. High Novelty Seeking is also associated with past suicide attempts, after adjusting for total CES-D score. LIMITATIONS: Cross-sectional data prevent analysis of causation; the severest cases of clinical depression may not be represented in a general population sample. Depressive symptoms are self-reported. CONCLUSION: Substantial differences in level of symptoms and in symptom patterns exist among individuals in a continuum of depressed states and those differences are partially explained by temperament traits.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Personality as a mediator of demographic risk factors for suicide attempts in a community sample.

The aim of this study was to determine whether personality might partially explain associations between sociodemographic factors and self-reported suicide attempts. This analysis was motivated by reports that certain personality traits are logical targets for intervention, whereas sociodemographic characteristics are not generally modifiable. Data were from a postal survey sent to community residents who were previously selected at random (N = 912). Age, gender, health-insurance status, education, self-reported health, and marital history were identified as relevant sociodemographic predictors of having made one or more lifetime suicide attempts. Risk associated with each of these variables was mediated by the personality traits of self-directedness (SD) and harm avoidance (HA). In a multiple logistic-regression analysis constrained to sociodemographic predictors, only young age, female sex, poor self-reported health, and Medicaid status remained as predictors of suicide attempts. When personality factors were added to the model, all of the sociodemographic predictors except Medicaid status were rendered nonsignificant or marginally significant. Risk associated with gender was primarily related to HA, risk associated with poor self-reported health was mediated by both HA and SD, and the risk associated with young age was primarily mediated by SD; the last was the largest mediation effect observed. In contrast, risk associated with receipt of Medicaid, presumed to indicate low socioeconomic status, was not mediated by personality. We conclude that risk associated with certain nonmodifiable demographic factors is often mediated by potentially modifiable intrapersonal factors, such as SD.

Adolescent↗