Differences in temperament and character dimensions in patients with bipolar I or II or major depressive disorder and general population subjects

Background. Whether temperament and character differ between bipolar disorder (BD) and major depressivedisorder (MDD) patients and general population subjects, or between BD I and BD II patients, remains unclear.Method. BD patients (n=191) from the Jorvi Bipolar Study and MDD patients (n=266) from the Vantaa DepressionStudy (VDS) and the Vantaa Primary Care Depression Study were interviewed at baseline, at 6 and 18 months, andin the VDS at 5 years. A general population comparison group (n=264) was surveyed by mail. BD patients’ scores onthe Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised were compared at an index interview, when levels of depressionand mania were lowest, with scores of MDD patients and controls. BD I (n=99) and BD II (n=92) patients werecompared.Results. Compared with controls, both BD and MDD patients had higher harm avoidance [odds ratio (OR) 1.027,p<0.001 and OR 1.047, p<0.001, respectively] and lower persistence (OR 0.983, p=0.006 and OR 0.968, p<0.001,respectively) scores. Moreover, BD patients had lower self-directedness (OR 0.979, p=0.003), MDD patients lowerreward dependence (OR 0.976, p=0.002) and self-transcendence (OR 0.966, p<0.001) scores. BD patients scored lowerin harm avoidance (OR 0.980, p=0.002) and higher in novelty seeking (OR 1.027, p<0.001) and self-transcendence(OR 1.028, p<0.001) than MDD patients. No differences existed between BD I and II patients.Conclusions. The patterns of temperament and character dimensions differed less between BD and MDD patients,than patients from their controls. The most pronounced difference was higher novelty seeking in BD than MDDpatients. The dimensions investigated are unlikely to differ between BD I and BD II patients.Received 27 April 2010; Revised 3 December 2010; Accepted 7 December 2010; First published online 12 January 2011Key words: Bipolar disorder, character, general population, major depressive disorder, personality, temperament.