Personality and frontal symptomatology in addicts and nonclinical population: toward a neuropsychology of personality

For many years now, Neuropsychology and the Psychology of Personality have developed in parallel, without any attempt to integrate the knowledge provided by the two disciplines. This paper sets out to analyze the relationship between the presence of symptoms in daily life related to the functioning...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Adicciones (Palma de Mallorca) 2010-07, Vol.22 (3), p.233
Main Authors: Ruiz Sanchez de León, José M, Pedrero Pérez, Eduardo J, Olivar Arroyo, Alvaro, Llanero Luque, Marcos, Rojo Mota, Gloria, Puerta García, Carmen
Format: Article
Language:eng ; spa
Subjects:
Adult
Brain damage
Female
Frontal Lobe - physiopathology
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Neuropsychology
Personality
Substance-Related Disorders - physiopathology
Substance-Related Disorders - psychology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Young Adult
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Summary:For many years now, Neuropsychology and the Psychology of Personality have developed in parallel, without any attempt to integrate the knowledge provided by the two disciplines. This paper sets out to analyze the relationship between the presence of symptoms in daily life related to the functioning of the brain's frontal lobes and individuals' personality patterns. The Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX-Sp), the Frontal System Behavior Scale (FrSBe- Sp) and the Inventory of Temperament and Character Revised (TCI-R) were administered to 421 non-clinical participants and 246 individuals in treatment for substance abuse or dependence. Significant correlations were found between symptoms for all frontal syndromes (mesial, dorsolateral and orbital) and some personality traits (novelty seeking, harm avoidance and self-directedness), even more than 50% of the variance being predicted. Results suggest that frontal performance should be seen as a continuous dimensional variable, ranging from optimal to non-adaptive performance, without a neat cut-off point. Addiction would be related to an increase in frontal symptoms, both mesial (apathy) and orbital (disinhibition), as well as dorsolateral (dysexecutive syndrome), and this would result in changes in the previous personality pattern. These data seriously question the supposed genetic basis of temperamental traits, and suggest hypotheses of great relevance for clinicians.
ISSN:0214-4840