| Author | Date | Population | Personality Scale | Construct Investigated | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MMPI: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory | |||||
| Payne T, Leavitt F, Garron D et al. [30] | 1982 | FM 30 RA 30 OA 30 |
MMPI | Personality differences and levels of psychopathology | Concluded that FM individuals psychological state is not directly due to pain or their disability; that their psychological status is variable and contributes significantly to the symptoms that they experience. |
| Wolfe F, Cathey MA, Kleinheksel SM et al. [65] | 1984 | FM 46 RA 32 RA no FM 43 |
MMPI | Psychological factors that contribute to psychopathology | Just over 25% of FM patients had “normal profile” compared to over 50% of controls; FM patients report significant psychopathic, psychasthenia and paranoia scales along with significant anxiety and depression scales |
| Ahles T, Yunus M, Gaulier B, Riley S, Masi A [35] | 1986 | FM 45 RA 30 NC 32 |
MMPI | Psychological factors that contribute to psychopathology | Low psychopathology found in FM, even though similar patterns were obtained when recalculating groups based on new contemporary norms. Raises suggestions that using previous norms may reflect findings based on living with a chronic condition, directly or indirectly, rather than actual psychopathology. |
| Yunus MB, Ahles TA, Aldag JC, Masi A [13] | 1991 | FM 103 | MMPI | Psychological factors that contribute to psychopathology | MMPI divided group into 3 categories, symptoms don’t confound outcomes of the MMPI, with exception of pain severity that was influenced by psychological factors. |
| Herken H, Gursoy S, Yetkin OE, Virit O, Esgi K [5] | 2001 | FM 48 NC 48 |
MMPI | Personality characteristics and depression levels | Patients reported high levels of anxiety and poor ability to cope with stress, leading to somatizing. |
| Ardic F, Toraman F [4] | 2002 | FM 45 CP 40 RA 20 NC 20 |
MMPI/2 | Psychological dimensions | Neurotic symptoms identified in pain conditions unlike control; psychological disturbance alters with pain duration. |
| Gerson A, Fox D [32] | 2003 | FM 19 CP 19 All litigating |
MMPI 2 | Personality variables in FM reviewed to the level of psychiatric disorder | Psychopathology not uniquely different between groups, outcomes potentially influenced by litigation, FM had greater somatic pre-occupation, more likely to have past psychiatric treatment. |
| Rains JC, Penzien DB [66] | 2003 | CP 21 (FM 18) Psychiatric 15 Medical 18 |
MMPI | Psychological relationships explored | CP group reported higher on hypochondriasis and hysteria and slightly lower on depression scales than the psychiatric group. CP exhibited pain profile suggesting that psychological distress relates to somatic complaints. |
| Blasco Claros L, Mallo Cano M, Mencia Presa M, et al. [67] | 2006 | FM 75 NC 55 |
MMPI/2 | Differing profiles based on personality disorders/personality psychopathology | Two different psychopathological patterns, identified from Bradley’s classification from the MMPI-2 in FM, provide a new measure that discriminates the severity of FM symptoms. |
| Johnson A, L, Storzbach D, Binder LM, et al. [68] | 2010 | FM 49 Non epileptic seizure 49 Epileptic seizure 49 NC 49 All Gulf war veterans |
MMPI 2 | Personality differences were studied between those with a somatic disorder compared to individuals with a physical illness. | The FM individuals reported higher hypochondriasis and hysteria scales than the epileptic and NC. The non epileptic seizure and FM similar in the hysteria scale (both said to be “medically unexplained” conditions) |
| CMPS Cesarec Marke Personality Schedule | |||||
| Johannsson V [69] | 1993 | FM 110 (computer) FM 45 (pen/paper) |
CMPS | Needs and Motives that underlie the psychopathology of FM | No difference between the paper and pen versus computer version of the CMPS. The findings suggest FM patients show increased need for order, perfectionism, and a lower sense of self-esteem. |
| KSP Karolinska Scales of Personality | |||||
| Ekselius L, Bengtsson A, Von Knorring L [16] | 1998 | FM 73 NC 200 RA 33 |
KSP | Measure of personality traits that may underlie development of medical conditions. | Limited results, found that only the psychasthenia scale correlated with duration of FM illness. This personality trait was inferred to potentially increase the likelihood of developing central sensitization. |
| TCI Temperament and character inventory | |||||
| Anderberg UM, ForsgrenT, Ekselius l, Marteindottir I, Hallman J [27] | 1999 | FM 38 NC 38 |
TCI | Personality traits identified through understanding of the psychobiological components | Increased “harm avoidance” found in FM suggesting a greater chance of producing more pessimistic thinking, increased anxiety regarding their world and increased levels of fatigue. |
| State Trait | |||||
| Amir M., Neuman L, Bor O, Shir Y, Rubinow A, Buskila D [6] |
2000 | FMS 51 RA 51 LBP 50 NC 50 |
State trait Anger Coping inventory |
Personality traits reported as different patterns of coping and anger. | Suggests there is no unique personality style-no significant difference between groups and investigation of traits need to take into account the context that evokes the response. |
| HAB Habituele Actiebereidheid Handleiding-self report questionnaire of action-proneness | |||||
| Van Houdenhove B, Neerinckx E, Onghena P, Lysens R, Vertommen H [64] | 2001 | FM 68 CF 124 |
HAB | Personality features | Action proneness (a personality feature) may underlie the development, maintenance and exacerbation of FM and chronic fatigue syndrome. |
| NEO The NEO Five-Factor Inventory | |||||
| Kersh BC, Bradley LA, Alarcon GS, et al. [58] | 2001 | FM 79 NC 37 |
NEO 5-Factor | Stable personality traits Psychosocial variables |
Extraversion, neuroticism, openness significantly different. Limited influence of personality variable. |
| DMTm Defense Mechanism Technique (modified) | |||||
| Trygg T, Lundberg G, Rosenlund E, Timpka T Gerdle B [33] | 2002 | FM 33 NC (neck pain) 31 |
MMPI DMTm |
Clinical characteristics of psychopathology underlying personality Consists of reconstruction of past and current understandings of current life situation; interpretation of past and current together that form personality. MMPI aligns with a person’s conscious thought where as the DMTm aligns with awareness of motivation. |
No psychopathology identified in either scale. Aim was to compare personality between groups. Both scales identified cognitive capacities deemed important in FM The MMPI results suggest that FM aligns with a more neurotic structure that directly influences cognitive ability and thus infers issues that relate to disability. |
| EPQ Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (revised) | |||||
| Malt EA, Olafsson S, Lund A, Ursin H [63] | 2002 | FM 42 NC 48 |
EPQ | Neuroticism used to measure the tendency to over react | Neuroticism found to be a predictor of pain, said to influence the autonomic nervous system producing a tendency to over react to triggers. |
| KSP Karolinska Scales of Personality | |||||
| Kendall SA, Elert J, Ekselius L, Gerdle B [20] | 2002 | FM 36 | KSP | Personality traits identified to operationalize constructs that underlying psychopathology | Anxiety underlay muscle tension, compared to a past reference group. |
| Panek PE, Skowronski JJ, Wagner EE [70] | 2002 | FM 29 OA 31 Headaches 30 |
Projective hand test | Personality profiles consisting of traits of seeking attention, goal seeking, fear, abandonment and environmental interactions | Different personality profiles for different pain conditions were identified. |
| Eysenck Personality Inventory | |||||
| Ramirez-Maestre C, Lopez Martinez A E, Zarazaga, R E [71] | 2004 | FM 14 OA 22 Arthrosis 21 Cancer 13 Lumbago 9 OP 8 Neuralgia 4 Hernia 3 Trauma 2 |
Eysenck personality Inventory | Neuroticism and extraversion explored | Individual pain experiences were not explored, overall neuroticism positively correlated to passive coping, extraversion partially correlated positively to active coping techniques. |
| TPQ Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire | |||||
| Buskila D, Cohen H, Neumann L, Ebstein RP [50] | 2004 | FM 81 NC 458 |
TPQ | Personality domains [Harm Avoidance/Novelty seeking] linked to genetics of three main neurotransmitters. | FM mechanisms (neurotransmitters) associated with personality traits |
| Glazer Y, Buskila D, Cohen H, Ebstein R P Neumann L [72] |
2010 | FM 129 Undiagnosed relatives with FM 27 NC 30 |
TPQ | Genetic links to personality (temperament) traits, exploration of three neurotransmitters associated with activation (novelty seeking), inhibition (fear avoidance) and maintenance (reward) | Findings suggest that there are similarities within first generation families of FM individuals, suggesting a hereditary component. |
| The Big Five Personality Inventory | |||||
| Zautra A, Johnson L, Davis M [73] | 2005 | FM 86 OA 38 |
The Big Five | The degree of neuroticism displayed by the sample population | The FM group displayed higher neurotic traits than the OA group; development of chronic pain linked to lack of resilience, stated as a lack of positive emotional resources rather than increased negative affect. Neuroticism is challenged as basis for emotional difficulties. |
| Malin K, Littlejohn G O [74] | 2011 | FM 27 NC 29 |
The Big Five | Associations between personality traits, psychological variables and clinical features explored. | Neuroticism trait in females with FM under age 39 significantly linked to clinical features, psychological co-morbidities and stress |
| NEO-PI The NEO Personality Inventory/Revised | |||||
| Raselli C, Broderick J [61] | 2007 | FM 44 OA 27 RA 5 AS 5 |
NEO-PI | Neuroticism levels | Neuroticism was found only to influence rating the change in pain, not accuracy, recall or memory. |
| SAS Sociotropy and Autonomy Scale | |||||
| Nordahl H, Stiles T [28] | 2007 | FM 44 MDD 43 NC 41 |
SAS | Personality Style based on cognitive traits | Personality style was related to depressive mood but not to FM. FM individuals had a higher sociotropic personality style that differed significantly from NC. FM without past MDD reported style similar to NC. |
| TCI-R Temperament and character inventory | |||||
| Lundberg G, Anderberg U, Gerdle B [43] | 2009 | FM 191 NC 652 |
TCI-R | Differences in temperament and character | Independent personality patterns were established between FM and NC triggered by the (in) ability to cope with stress. Character and temperament in FM high in harm avoidance, persistence and low in self-directedness. |
| Verdejo-Garcia A, Lopez-Torrecillas F, Clandre E, Delgado-Rodriguez A, Bechara, A [75] | 2009 | FM 36 NC 36 |
TCI-R | Personality measures and relationship to cognitive functioning | Suggest a mild correlation between personality traits (persistence and reward dependence) and cognitive performance. |
| Mazza M, Mazza O, Pomponi M, Nicola M Padua L, Vicini M, et al. [76] | 2009 | FM 60 NC 80 |
TCI-R | Temperament and Character profiles | Results indicated a potential altered sensory input influencing central sensitization through the SSRI response and the personality profiles used. Has the potential to identify FM individuals who would benefit from treatment. |
| Riva R, Mork PJ, Westgaard RH, Ro M, Lundberg U [77] | 2010 | FM 29 NC 29 |
KSP EPQ (r ) |
To measure stable personality traits, three subscales used inability to relax, worrying and feeling anxious and autonomous disturbance and links to being over or under responsive. | FM had increased psychological characteristics that included higher levels of neuroticism, and more subjective physiological complaints, both somatic and psychological, in comparison to NC |