Lecture 80: Personality Flashcards
Temperament
Biologically based behavioral and emotional tendencies; present in early life and stage
Personality
Temperament PLUS the world; characteristic way one thinks, feels, behaves
Components of neural network model
Behavioral approach and inhibition system
4 types of kids from classic study of infant temperament
Easy, difficult, slow to warm (shy, withdrawal from novel stimuli), unable to classify
Eysenck factors in adult personality
Extravertism/introversion + low/high neuroticism –> 4 types of personalities
Infant behavioral inhibition associated with…
Inhibition (maybe event anxiety) throughout life
Five factor model
Openness vs close-mindedness; conscientiousness vs negligence; extraversion vs introversion; agreeableness vs antagonism; neuroticism vs emotional stability
The five factor model is…
Reliable, reproducible, cross-cultural, and predictable of health outcomes
Extraversion (def and association)
Sociable, expressive; positive emotions
Neuroticism (def and association)
Anxious, self-conscious, irritabile; negative emotions and vulnerability to psychopathology
Conscientiousness (def and association)
Responsible, persistent, thinking before acting; inhibit impulses to follow rules –> career success and longer life
Agreeableness (def and association)
Kind, affectionate, cooperative; understanding others’ emotions, positive relationships
Openness to experience (def and association)
Imaginative, curious, eager; process abstract/uncertainty, intelligence
T/F: Is personality stable over time?
Somewhat true: temperament tends to be stable will personality might change
What could cause innate personality traits to appear?
Stress, new situations
T/F: Strong genetic influences on temperament and personality
True
The most important contributor to variations in personality may be…
A person’s unique “non-shared” environment
What is a good example of gene x environment interaction?
Parent-child interaction: children with high negative emotionality (“difficult”) causes in less parent involvement, resulting in greater vulnerability when children encounter stress
Neuroticism predicts encountering…and vice versa? Holds even when…
Negative events; extraversion predicts positive events; holds for subjective reports and objective measures corrected for reporting bias
Fetal programming hypothesis
Fetusadjusts phenotype on basis of maternal nutritional & hormonal cues about the outside world, as a means of optimally adapting to the (anticipated) conditions of the postnatal environment
Risk factors for psychiatric disorders (4)
High neuroticism; low conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion
Harm avoidance is associated with…
Mood/anxiety disorders
What kids of personality traits are related to poor health outcomes? (4)
Pessimistic explanatory style (self-blame), less agreeable/conscientiousness, more neuroticism
What kids of personality traits are related to good health outcomes? (7)
Easy going, self-regulating, flexible, positive emotionality, sociable, high attention focusing on tasks, OPTIMISM
Optimistic patients have a larger response to…
Placebos!
How to become more optimistic?
Reframing: 2 weeks of daily 5-min sessions of imagining one’s best possible self can temporarily increase optimism
Personality disorder (def)
Enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly from the expectations of the individual’s culture
Personality disorder manifests in these four domains…
Cognition, affectivity, interpersonal functioning, impulse control
Personality disorder must be…(3)
Inflexible and pervasive; causing clinically significant distress/impairment
A personality develops fully during what life stage? Compare to temperament
Early adulthood; temperament is earlier
What is a primary reason for the breakdown between Axis I and II
Increasingly understood that all psychiatry disorders are the result of a gene by environment interaction (e.g. Axis I can be environment, Axis II can be genes)
Cluster A
Odd/eccentric (psychotic): paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal
Cluster B
Dramatic, emotional, erratic (“bad” or manic): antisocial, borderline, histrionic, narcissistic
Cluster C
Anxious, fearful (anxiety): avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive
Paranoid
Irrational suspicions/mistrust
Schizoid
Lack of interest in social relationships
Schizotypal
Characterized by odd behavior/thinking (on schizophrenia spectrum)
Antisocial
Disregard for the law, rights of others
Borderline
Extreme “black and white” thinking, instable in relationships, self-harm and impulsivity
Histrionic
Attention-seeking, seductive, exaggerated emotions
Narcissistic
Grandiosity, need for admiration, lack of empathy
Avoidant
Social inhibition/avoidance
Dependent
Psychological dependence on others
Obsessive-compulsive
Conformity to rules, moral codes, excessive oderliness
Prevalence of PDs by cluster (%); total (%)
A and C ~6%, B 1.5%; 9%
% of those diagnosed w/ a PD are female…
75%
Describe schizotypal PD
Discomfort/reduced capacity for close relationships AND cognitive or perceptual distortions and eccentricities of behavior
Schizotypal PD often seeks treatment for…How is it similar to schizophrenia? Treatment?
Anxiety, depression; some of the cognitive (“hypofrontality”) problems as schizophrenia; if they are very distressed, they could be treated w/ low doses of antipsychotics
Antisocial PD is marked by a lack of? More likely to die from…Treatment? Hypoactive?
Remorse; violent means; no good treatment; amygdala
Instability in Borderline PD (3 broad realms)
Emotional/affective, behavioral, interpersonal
Describe Borderline PD (4)
Avoid abandonment, unstable interpersonal relationships, self-damaging impulsiveness, suicidal tendencies
A personal with Borderline PD may complain of…
Chronic feelings of emptiness
% gender in Borderline PD. Some reasons why (2)?
75%; sampling bias/higher rates of sexual trauma?
Describe the aging borderline patient and treatment
Improves with age (fewer suicides, better relationships); psychotherapy (DBT)
What brain region might be hyperactive in borderline? What about hypoactivity? What about general “dysfunction”?
Amygdala; frontal regions; insula
Is childhood trauma necessary and/or sufficient for Borderline PD?
NO: not all w/ trauma become borderline and not all borderlines have trauma
Is there a genetic factor for Borderline PD?
Yes: might just inherit personality types, not the whole disorder; genes x env’t very important
When treating a borderline patient, it’s important to…Treatment should focus on…Meds (3 categories)?
Manage your own countertransference; self-destructive behaviors and improving emotional regulation; serotonergic for impulsivity, antipsychotics if symptoms exist, mood stabilizers for emotional lability
Describe Avoidant PD (3) and how it is different from schizoid or schizotypal?
Feelings of inadequacy; subjective sense of being “socially inept;” sensitive to criticism; unlike schizoid/schizotypal –> desire affection and acceptance
