Publication
Title
A big five personality typology in adolescents with congenital heart disease : prospective associations with psychosocial functioning and perceived health
Author
Institution/Organisation
i-DETACH Investigators
Abstract
Purpose This study aimed (1) to identify different personality types in adolescents with congenital heart disease (CHD), and (2) to relate these personality types to psychosocial functioning and several domains of perceived health, both concurrently and prospectively. Hence, this study aimed to expand previous research by adopting a person-centered approach to personality through focusing on personality types rather than singular traits. Method Adolescents with CHD were selected from the database of pediatric and congenital cardiology of the University Hospitals Leuven. A total of 366 adolescents (15-20 years old) with CHD participated at time 1. These adolescents completed questionnaires on the Big Five personality traits, depressive symptoms, loneliness, and generic and disease-specific domains of health. Nine months later, 313 patients again completed questionnaires. Results Cluster analysis at time 1 revealed three personality types: resilients (37 %), undercontrollers (34 %), and overcontrollers (29 %), closely resembling typologies obtained in previous community samples. Resilients, under-, and overcontrollers did not differ in terms of disease complexity, but differed on depressive symptoms, loneliness, and generic and disease-specific domains of perceived health at both time-points. Overall, resilients showed the most favorable outcomes and overcontrollers the poorest, with undercontrollers scoring in-between. Conclusion Personality assessment can help clinicians in identifying adolescents at risk for physical and psychosocial difficulties later in time. In this study, both over- and undercontrollers were identified as high-risk groups. Our findings show that both personality traits and types should be taken into account to obtain a detailed view on the associations between personality and health.
Language
English
Source (journal)
International journal of behavioral medicine. - Dordrecht
Publication
Dordrecht : 2016
ISSN
1070-5503
DOI
10.1007/S12529-016-9547-X
Volume/pages
23 :3 (2016) , p. 310-318
ISI
000376033200007
Pubmed ID
26911460
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
UAntwerpen
Publication type
Subject
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 26.03.2020
Last edited 23.08.2024
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