Suchergebnisse

AbstractThe heritability of adult attachment styles as measured by the Relationship Scales Questionnaire (RSQ) was estimated on data from a volunteer general population sample of 220 adult twin pairs (116 monozygotic pairs. 104 dizygotic pairs). Additive genetic effects accounted for 37%, 43%, and 25% of the variance in the secure, fearful, and preoccupied adult attachment styles, respectively, but none of the variance in the dismissing style. Nonshared environmental influences accounted for the majority of the variance in all styles: 63% secure, 57% fearful, 75% preoccupied, and 71% dismissing. Shared environmental effects were negligible for all styles except dismissing (29%).

Previous research has shown an association between primary headaches and some extreme features of normal personality traits, however, studies of the relationship between these headaches and the disordered or abnormal personality traits are still needed. This study sought to examine
the disordered personality trait profiles in patients with migraine, tension-type headaches compared to healthy controls. Disordered personality traits were assessed using the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology (DAPP; Livesley & Jackson, in press), a self-report measure of
abnormal personality function that subsumes major models of normal personality, in 41 patients with chronic headaches (CTH), 34 frequent episodic tension-type headaches (FETH) and 48 migraine without aura, as well as 37 headache-free healthy control subjects. All patient groups scored significantly
higher than healthy controls on Submissiveness, Cognitive Distortion, Identity Problems, Intimacy Problems, Social Avoidance, and Self-Harm. In addition, the migraine group scored higher on Submissiveness than did the FETH group. Our findings thus confirmed personality dysfunctions in primary
headache sufferers.

To examine the relationship between perceptions of parenting and personality, the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI; Parker, Tupling, & Brown, 1979) and the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology – Basic Questionnaire (DAPP; Livesley & Jackson, in press) were administered
to 167 adolescent and 422 adult students, as well as to 198 patients with personality disorders. Principal component analysis of the PBI yielded 3 factors in all three samples: Care, Freedom Control, and Autonomy Denial. Chinese personality disorder patients perceived less parental Care than
did adolescent and adult students, more paternal Freedom Control than did adults, and more paternal Autonomy Denial than did adolescents. Most regression coefficients between PBI and DAPP scales were moderate, but consistent with previous literature. These findings are similar to those found
in the non-Chinese samples, suggesting that parental bonding is important in the development of personality disorders across different nations.

A cerebral P3 potential (passive P3) in response to a single tone shares similar morphology to the classical P3 elicited in the active "oddball" paradigm, but reflects passive attention. As patients with schizotypal, antisocial, and borderline personality disorders show
reduced amplitude and prolonged latency of classical P3, it is reasonable to expect that these patients might show an abnormal passive P3. We tested whether the single tone elicited event-related potentials (ERPs) in 205 patients with personality disorders and in 30 healthy volunteers. Their
Axis I symptoms of depression and anxiety were measured by Zung's Self-rating Depression Scale and Self-rating Anxiety Scale (1965, 1971). Both schizoid and paranoid groups showed significantly reduced P3 amplitude. In addition, the schizoid group showed significantly shortened N1 latency
and enhanced N2 amplitude. Most patient groups except schizoids scored higher on the Depression or Anxiety scales, or both, but the ERP findings were not correlated with the Axis I symptoms in any given group alone. The abnormal negative components implied a higher vigilance or cortical arousal
level in the schizoid patients, while the reduced P3 amplitude indicated a poorer passive attention in both schizoid and paranoid patients.