Functional constipation in children: does maternal personality matter?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Aim</p> <p>To identify personality dimensions of mothers with a constipated child and compare it with those mothers of children without defecation problems.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We compared mothers of 150 children with functional constipation to mothers of 150 children with no such a problem attending to pediatric hospital of Tabriz University of medical sciences. Personality dimensions were evaluated by NEO five factor inventory after excluding any psychiatric disorders by an interview.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mean age (SD) was 28.8(18.6) months in constipated children and 20.0(19.3) months in controls, 54.6% of constipated children and 56.7% of controls were male. Mean age (SD) was 30.9(7.1) years in mothers of children with functional constipation and 30.1(7.6) years in controls.</p> <p>Mothers of children with functional constipation scored lower in neuroticism and scored higher in extraversion, conscientiousness and agreeableness. Conscientiousness was the dominant dimension of personality in both groups.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results suggest the maternal personality as a factor to directly influence toileting behavior of their children resulting in functional constipation.</p