Influence of childhood trauma on personality development in bipolar patients and healthy controls

Abstract

Objective: Bipolar disorder (BD) is characterized by high levels of childhood trauma and they can be detrimental in relation to the formation of personality. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between childhood trauma and BD personality compared to healthy controls (HC). Methods: A total of 27 euthimic BD patients, aged between 18 and 40 years old, were recruited at Hospital das Clinicas in São Paulo, Brazil. Twenty HC (predominantly medical students) aged between 18 and 35 years old, with no current or past history of psychiatric disorder, were recruited from the University of São Paulo. Information about early life stress was obtained using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Personality Formation was assessed through NEO-PI-R personality test – based on the Big Five personality traits: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience. Results: In the BD group the main significant associations were: physical abuse with concientiousness (p = 0.03); emotional neglect with agreeableness (p =0.03) and emotional abuse with conscientiousness (p = 0.04). There were no significant differences in HC group. Comparing BD and HC physical abuse was associated with concientiousness (p = 0.03) and emotion Neglecent was associated with agreeableness (p = 0.03). Discussion: Our results indicate that childhood trauma can be associated with personality traits in BD patients but not in HC, mainly regarding concientiousness and emotional neglect.