Background: : personality features have been repeatedly associated with
depression treatment outcome in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), however
conclusive results are still lacking. Moreover, as for Bipolar Disorder
(BD), results are only few and preliminary.
Aim: : the aim of the present study was to perform an exploratory
investigation of the influence of personality traits as assessed by the
Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), on principal depression
treatment outcomes (non remission, non response and resistance).
Methods: : 743 mood disorders patients (455 MDD (61.24%) and 288 BD
(38.76%)) were recruited in the context of 6 European studies.
Generalized logit models were performed to test the effects of TCI
dimensions on treatment outcomes, considering possible confounders such
as age, gender and education. Positive results were controlled for
comorbidities (anxiety and substance use disorders) as well.
Results: : MDD Non-Remitters showed high Harm Avoidance (HA) and Self
Transcendence (ST) (p = 0.0004, d = 0.40; p = 0.007, d = 0.36
respectively) and low Persistence (P) and Self Directedness (SD) (p =
0.05; d = 0.18; p = 0.002, d = 0.40, respectively); MDD Non-Responders
showed a slightly different profile with high HA and low Reward
Dependence (RD) and SD; finally, MDD Resistants showed low RD, P and
Cooperativeness (C). In BD patients, only higher HA in non response was
observed.
Limitations: : the retrospective cross-sectional design, the TCI
assessment regardless of the mood state and the small number of bipolar
patients represent the main limitations.
Conclusion: : specific TCI personality traits are associated with
depression treatment outcome in MDD patients. The inclusion of such
personality traits, together with other socio-demographic and clinical
predictors, could ameliorate the accuracy of the prediction models
available to date