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Personality and psychosis: use of the Standardized Assessment of Personality
Author(s) -
Cutting J.,
Cowen P. J.,
Mann A. H.,
Jenkins R.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1986.tb02672.x
Subject(s) - personality , psychology , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , clinical psychology , personality disorders , psychosis , psychiatry , big five personality traits , personality assessment inventory , social psychology
The Standardized Assessment of Personality, a semistructured interview for use with an informant, was used with a relative or a close friend to determine the premorbid personality of 100 consecutive patients admitted with major psychiatric disorders – major affective disorders (18 manics, 35 depressives), schizophrenia (28) and other functional psychoses (19). Forty‐four per cent of the entire sample had an abnormal personality as defined by the presence of one of 10 prominent traits to a marked degree. A further 6% had the same traits to a lesser degree. The proportion of patients with an abnormal personality (all types) was comparable across the four diagnostic groups (manics 39%, depressives 54%, schizophrenics 39%, other functional psychotics 37%). However, if one included all traits (marked and mild), patients with an affective disorder had more between them than did the non‐affective groups. This difference was largely accounted for by cyclothymic, anxious and obsessional traits. The schizophrenics and other functional psychotics had surprisingly few prominent traits and, in particular, a schizoid personality rarely preceded a schizophrenic illness.