Lower Novelty Seeking Scores Research Articles

Are Personality Characteristics as Measured by the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) Associated with Obesity Treatment Outcomes? A Systematic Review.

Some personality traits seem to be associated with obesity, but there is little information available regarding their association with obesity treatment outcomes. The aim of this systematic review was therefore to assess the associations between personality traits-evaluated by means of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI)-and outcomes of obesity treatment, including attrition, weight loss, and weight loss maintenance. The PubMed database was searched, and studies were screened as per the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, and data were collated using a narrative approach. Of the 886 articles retrieved, 9 studies assessing personality traits by means of the TCI in participants with obesity met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed. This approach revealed three main findings: (i) only one study found that attrition rate-during a 6-month behavioral weight loss program-is predicted by low reward dependence scores at baseline; (ii) two studies found that lower novelty-seeking and higher self-directedness scores at baseline positively predict short-term weight-loss magnitude; and (iii) four studies found that higher persistence and lower novelty-seeking scores at baseline predicted weight maintenance at 12 and 24months. Novelty-seeking and self-directedness traits appear to be predictors of short-term weight loss (≤ 6months), and persistence and novelty-seeking traits may be related to long-term weight loss maintenance (≥ 12months), although great uncertainty still exists regarding predictors of attrition.

Internet gaming disorder and online gambling disorder: Clinical and personality correlates.

Background and aimsThe recent growth of Internet use has led to an increase of potentially problematic behaviors that can be engaged online, such as online gambling or Internet gaming. The aim of this study is to better conceptualize Internet gaming disorder (IGD) by comparing it with gambling disorder (GD) patients who only gamble online (online GD).MethodsA total of 288 adult patients (261 online GD and 27 IGD) completed self-reported questionnaires for exploring psychopathological symptoms, food addiction (FA), and personality traits.ResultsBoth clinical groups presented higher psychopathological scores and less functional personality traits when compared with a normative Spanish population. However, when comparing IGD to online GD, some singularities emerged. First, patients with IGD were younger, more likely single and unemployed, and they also presented lower age of disorder onset. In addition, they displayed lower somatization and depressive scores together with lower prevalence of tobacco use but higher FA scores and higher mean body mass index. Finally, they presented lower novelty seeking and persistence traits.DiscussionGD is fully recognized as a behavioral addiction, but IGD has been included in the Appendix of DSM-5 as a behavioral addiction that needs further study. Our findings suggest that IGD and online GD patients share some emotional distress and personality traits, but patients with IGD also display some differential characteristics, namely younger age, lower novelty seeking scores and higher BMI, and FA scores.ConclusionsIGD presents some characteristics that are not extensive to online GD. These specificities have potential clinical implications and they need to be further studied.

At-Risk Depressive Symptoms and Alcohol Use Trajectories in Adolescence: A Person-Centred Analysis of Co-Occurrence

Long-term longitudinal studies that examine whether there are distinct trajectories of at-risk depressive symptoms and alcohol use across the high school years (e.g., high co-occurrence) are rare in normative samples of adolescent boys and girls; yet, this assessment is of critical importance for developing effective prevention and intervention strategies. Moreover, the role of self-regulation and novelty-seeking behavior in differentiating among distinct subgroups of adolescents is not clear. To address these gaps, the present study sought to identify subgroups of adolescent boys and girls that indicated at-risk trajectories across the high school years for both depressive symptoms and alcohol use, and examined the role of delay of gratification and novelty seeking at baseline in differentiating among the subgroups. Canadian adolescents (N = 4,412; 49 % female) were surveyed at four time points (grades 9, 10, 11, and 12). Parallel process latent class growth analyses revealed four distinct subgroups for both boys and girls, encompassing high co-occurrence, depressive symptoms only, alcohol use only, and low co-occurrence. Across gender, delay of gratification at baseline differentiated among the four subgroups, with the High Co-Occurrence Group group scoring the lowest and the Low Co-Occurrence Group the highest. Lower novelty-seeking scores at baseline were associated more with being in the Depressive Symptoms Only Group relative to the other groups, particularly the Alcohol Use Only Group for boys. Thus, delay of gratification and novelty seeking may be useful in identifying youth at risk for co-occurring depressive symptoms and alcohol use trajectories, as well as at-risk trajectories for only one of these behaviors.

Temperament-Character Profiles in Patients with Alopecia Areata

Objective: Alopecia areata (AA) is a chronic immunological skin disorder characterized by round or oval patches of non-scarring hair loss. Current psychosomatic medicine focuses on the triggering of various diseases by stress and on psycho-immunological changes related to psychosocial stress. There has been little research on the personality traits in alopecia areata.The aim of this study is to examine temperament-character profiles and psychopathology of AA patients and to compare the findings with healthy controls.Method: Seventy-three patients who applied to outpatient clinics of dermatology for AA were included. The control group (n=78) was recruited from a nonclinical population. General psychopathology was assessed with the revised version of the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90-R). Personality was assessed using the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI).Results: The Global Severity Index (GSI) and depression subscale of the SCL-90-R scores were higher in the AA than in the control group (p<0.05). Total scores of novelty seeking (NS), reward dependence (RD), and self-transcendence (ST) of the patient groups were significantly lower than those of the control groups (p<0.05). When depression and anxiety were considered as covariates, the significant difference which was detected by the t-test still existed between the two groups in terms of NS, RD and ST.Conclusion: It is well known that psychiatric symptoms are common in AA. This study suggests that AA patients have distinctive temperaments such as novelty seeking, reward dependence and self-transcendence dimension compared with healthy controls. AA patients with low NS, RD and ST scores may be prone to depression.

The dopamine transporter gene possibly affects personality traits in patients with early-onset major depressive disorder.

Comorbid personality pathologies may affect the outcome of patients with major depression (MD). The dopamine transporter gene DAT1 (SLC6A3) has been suggested to play a role in both depression and specific personality traits. The aim of this study was to assess five polymorphisms of the DAT1 gene (rs2550948, rs2975226, rs6347, rs27072, and 3'-VNTR) to determine whether this gene influences personality traits in patients with MD or its subgroups. The DAT1 polymorphisms were analysed in 463 unrelated Han Chinese MD patients. The personality traits, novelty seeking (NS), and harm avoidance (HA), were examined using the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire. The patients were also divided into four clinical subgroups on the basis of differences in their sex (male or female) and age at disease onset (early or late). There was no association between the DAT1 gene and either NS or HA in the total MD sample or in the sex-based subgroups. However, early-onset MD patients with the G/G genotype of rs2550948 and the T/T genotype of rs2975226 had lower NS scores than did patients with the other genotypes (p corrected = 0.05 for rs2550948 and p corrected = 0.005 for rs2975226). Our study suggests that DAT1 promoter variants possibly influence specific personality traits in the early-onset subgroup of depressed patients in the Han Chinese population. Further prospective cohort studies are required to verify our preliminary finding and to confirm the effects of personality susceptibility on long-term disease outcomes.

Cognitive and Affective Correlates of Temperament in Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) patients display low novelty seeking scores on the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ), which may reflect the low dopamine function that characterises the disease. People with PD also display raised harm avoidance scores. Due to these and other observations, a “parkinsonian personality” has been suggested. However, little is known about how these features relate to cognitive and affective disorders, which are also common in PD. We examined links between TPQ scores and performance on an attentional orienting task in a sample of 20 people with PD. In addition, associations between TPQ and depression and anxiety scores were explored. It was found that novelty seeking scores were significantly correlated with a reaction time measure of attentional orienting to visual novelty. Harm avoidance scores were significantly correlated with anxiety, but not depression scores. These findings extend our understanding of how temperament interacts with cognitive and affective features of the disorder.

Motor cortex excitability correlates with novelty seeking in social anxiety: a transcranial magnetic stimulation investigation

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterised by fear of scrutiny by other people, avoidance of social situations and vegetative/motor symptomatology. The correlation between reduced striatal dopaminergic (DA) function, SAD motor symptoms and the high occurrence of SAD in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), suggests a link between SAD and movement diseases caused by dopamine dysfunction. However, little is known about the electrophysiological aspects of SAD. We applied single- and paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to investigate excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms of the primary motor cortex (M1) in 15 SAD patients and the relationship between these neurophysiological measures and clinical symptoms or temperamental traits. Data were compared with those obtained in 15 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers. SAD patients showed significantly higher harm avoidance scores and lower novelty seeking scores when compared to controls. TMS measures did not significantly differ between groups. However, in SAD patients the cortical silent period (CSP) duration and the amount of long-interstimulus interval intracortical inhibition were significantly correlated with the NS score. Accordingly with NS reduction and CSP shortening reported in PD, the relationship between NS levels and the excitability of inhibitory circuits of the M1 may support the hypothesis that DA dysfunction could underlie NS deficits in SAD. Furthermore, these data suggest that "trait variables" (i.e., NS) are more closely related to neurophysiological measures than SAD symptoms, which represent "state variables" linked to social performance.

Alterations of the sense of self and personality in Parkinson's disease

We hypothesized that alterations of subcomponents ('harm-avoidance') of personality and the sense of Self in patients with PD would be associated with executive cognitive dysfunction. Thirty-four patients with PD and 17 age-matched controls with chronic disease were assessed with a set of neuropsychologic, personality and mood tests as well as an experimental assessment of the sense of Self. On personality and self tests, PD patients evidenced higher harm avoidance, lower novelty seeking scores, and lower recall rates of personally experienced events from childhood than controls and this PD personality profile was associated with poor performance on neuropsychologic tests of executive prefrontal function. PD patients, however, did not differ significantly from controls in their subjectively felt congruence between their present Selves and their hoped-for Selves. We suggest that harm-avoidance personality and Self-related changes of PD are due, in part, to a memory disorder associated with frontal dysfunction.

The psychobiology and diagnostic significance of amenorrhea in patients with anorexia nervosa

Amenorrhea is a diagnostic criterion for anorexia nervosa (AN), although menstrual cycles have been found to persist in some women with all the other features of AN. This study sought to determine factors that are associated with amenorrhea in 39 women with current primary spectrum AN. The use of exercise to control weight (odds ratio (OR) = 3.5; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.3-9.9; P = .02), low novelty seeking scores (OR = 0.7; 95% CI = 0.58-0.94; P = .02), and low systolic blood pressure (OR = 0.9; 95% CI = 0.84-0.99; P = .046) were predictors of amenorrhea independent of body mass index.

Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire Factors in Major Depressive Disorder: Relationship to Anxiety Disorder Comorbidity and Age of Onset

Objective: We used the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) to study the relationship between temperamental traits and comorbid anxiety disorders as well as age of onset of major depressive disorder (MDD) in 263 patients with MDD. Methods: Patients recruited for a large clinical study on MDD underwent a Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R assessment and were administered the self-rated TPQ [mean age = 39.5 ± 10.5 years, women = 138 (53%), initial 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D-17) score = 19.6 ± 3.4]. The TPQ was scored for three previously identified factors – harm avoidance (HA), novelty seeking (NS), and reward dependence (RD). Multiple linear regression methods were used to evaluate the relationship between TPQ factors and each comorbid anxiety disorder as well as between early- vs. late-onset MDD, after controlling for age, gender and initial HAM-D-17 score (when these were related to the dependent variable in simple regressions). Results: Social anxiety disorder in MDD was strongly associated with higher scores on HA and lower scores on NS and RD (t = 5.4, p < 0.0001; t = 2.6, p = 0.009; t = 2.2, p = 0.028, respectively). A diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder in MDD was significantly related to higher HA scores (t = 2.8, p = 0.006). The presence of comorbid obsessive-compulsive disorder was associated with lower NS scores (t = 2.3, p = 0.023) as was that of comorbid panic disorder (t = 2.0, p = 0.051). Finally, the presence of simple phobias was associated with lower scores on RD (t = 2.4, p = 0.016). HA scores were higher in patients with early onset of MDD (adjusted p = 0.05). Early versus late onset of MDD was not significantly related to NS or RD scores. Limitations: Since our sample consisted of moderately depressed outpatients, our ability to generalize our findings to other populations is limited. Conclusions: Features of temperament are related to patterns of anxiety disorder comorbidity and age of onset among patients with MDD. Higher levels of HA and lower levels of RD and NS were associated with an increased risk of anxiety disorder comorbidity in our sample. HA may also be related to early onset of depression.

Novelty seeking as a mediator in relationships between type 4 dopamine receptor gene polymorphism and predisposition to higher education

The aim of the study was to investigate the mediating role of temperamental dimension novelty seeking (NS) in the potential relationship between the type 4 dopamine receptor gene (DRD4) and a predisposition to higher education. Participants comprised 150 of those with high and low NS scores (highest and lowest 10%) from a randomized population-based sample of 2451 Finnish citizens in six age cohorts. The participants were genotyped for 48 base-pair repeat polymorphism in the DRD4 gene. NS was assessed by the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI).The 2- and 5-repeat alleles were significantly more common in women without general upper secondary education than in others. After controlling for the effect of NS on attending general upper secondary education, the relationship weakened substantially and was no longer statistically significant.

Dopamine D3 receptor gene polymorphism and alcohol dependence: relation to personality rating.

Hereditary dopaminergic mechanisms have been implicated in the aetiology of alcoholism. For this study, the distribution of a dopamine D3 receptor gene polymorphism (Ball) has been investigated in patients suffering from alcohol dependence, and compared with non-dependent controls. The allele A1 occurred significantly more frequently among patients compared to controls. Patients with the genotype A1/A2 showed significantly higher novelty seeking (NS) scores in the tridimensional personality questionnaire (TPQ) than patients with the genotype A1/A1. The distribution of patients with high and low NS scores in heterozygotes (A1/A2) did not follow a random distribution. There were significantly more individuals with higher NS scores, and fewer individuals with lower NS scores than expected. The results of this study support the hypothesis of a genetically determined involvement of the dopaminergic system in alcohol dependence. This is probably related to the modulation of personality traits. The observed effects are relatively small, but statistically significant. Thus, the genetics of the dopaminergic neurotransmitter system alone cannot explain the aetiopathogenesis of alcoholism.