Longitudinal associations between five factor model and impulsive personality traits and PTSD symptoms: Findings from the AURORA study

• Published in: Journal of research in personality 2024-10, Vol.112, p.104524, Article 104524
• Main Authors: Hyatt, Courtland S., Reddi, Preethi J., Sharpe, Brinkley M., Michopoulos, Vasiliki, van Rooij, Sanne J.H., House, Stacey L., Beaudoin, Francesca L., An, Xinming, Stevens, Jennifer S., Zeng, Donglin, Neylan, Thomas C., Clifford, Gari D., Linnstaedt, Sarah D., Germine, Laura T., Bollen, Kenneth A., Rauch, Scott L., Haran, John P., Lewandowski, Christopher, Musey, Paul I., Hendry, Phyllis L., Sheikh, Sophia, Jones, Christopher W., Punches, Brittany E., Kurz, Michael C., Swor, Robert A., Hudak, Lauren A., Pascual, Jose L., Seamon, Mark J., Harris, Erica, Pearson, Claire, Peak, David A., Merchant, Roland C., Domeier, Robert M., Rathlev, Niels K., Sergot, Paulina, Sanchez, Leon D., Bruce, Steven E., Miller, Mark W., Pietrzak, Robert H., Joormann, Jutta, Pizzagalli, Diego A., Sheridan, John F., Smoller, Jordan W., Harte, Steven E., Elliott, James M., McLean, Samuel A., Kessler, Ronald C., Ressler, Kerry J., Koenen, Karestan C., Maples-Keller, Jessica L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Five Factor Model; Impulsivity; Negative Urgency; Neuroticism; Personality traits; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Stress; Trauma; Trauma exposure; UPPS model
• ISSN: 0092-6566
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jrp.2024.104524

•We assessed links between personality and PTSD symptoms up to 12-months post-trauma.•Neuroticism and Negative Urgency were most strongly associated with PTSD.•Personality assessment is a promising screening tool for PTSD in medical settings. We used data from the Advancing Understanding of Recovery after Trauma (AURORA) study to investigate prospective links between five factor model and impulsive personality traits and PTSD symptoms at baseline (N = 2943),three-months post-trauma (N = 2400), and one-year post-trauma (N = 1591) in individualsrecruited from emergency departments within 72 h of trauma exposure. Neuroticism and Negative Urgency bore the largest relations (rs > 0.30) to nearly all individual PTSD symptoms and symptom total at all time points. Neuroticism was an incremental predictor of every PTSD symptom at each time point. Low Agreeableness and low Conscientiousness were incremental predictorsof several PTSD symptoms. These findings highlight personality assessment as an efficient, effective screening tool for PTSD risk.