Cornelia Pocnet

Personality traits and behavioral and psychological symptoms in patients at an early stage of Alzheimer's disease

The origins of behavioral and psychological symptoms (BPS) in Alzheimers disease (AD) are still poorly understood. Focusing on individual personality structure, we explored the relationship between premorbid personality and its changes over 5 years, and BPS in patients at an early stage of AD.

The Evolution of Personality in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment

Aims: To describe personality traits and their changes in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and control subjects. Methods: Sixty-three MCI and 90 control subjects were asked to describe their current personality traits by the Structured Interview for the Five-Factor Model (SIFFM). For each subject, a close relative retrospectively assessed these descriptions both as to the previous and current personality traits, using the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, Form R (NEO-PI-R). Results: Self-assessed MCI subjects reported significantly lower scores in the openness dimension than control subjects [F(1, 150) = 9.84, p = 0.002, ηp2 = 0.06]. In current observer ratings, MCI subjects had higher scores on neuroticism [F(1, 137) = 7.55, p = 0.007, ηp2 = 0.05] and lower ones on extraversion [F(1, 137) = 6.40, p = 0.013, ηp2 = 0.04], openness [F(1, 137) = 9.93, p = 0.002, ηp2 = 0.07], agreeableness [F(1, 137) = 10.18, p = 0.002, ηp2 = 0.07] and conscientiousness [F(1, 137) = 25.96, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.16]. Previous personality traits discriminated the groups as previous openness [odds ratio (OR) = 0.97, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.95-0.99, p = 0.014] and conscientiousness (OR = 0.96, 95% CI 0.94-0.98, p = 0.001) were negatively related to MCI group membership. In MCI subjects, conscientiousness [F(1, 137) = 19.20, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.12] and extraversion [F(1, 137) = 22.27, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.14] decreased between previous and current evaluations and neuroticism increased [F(1, 137) = 22.23, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.14], whereas no significant change was found in control subjects. Conclusions: MCI subjects undergo significant personality changes. Thus, personality assessment may aid the early detection of dementia.

Comparing the Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism Scale and the Auckland Individualism and Collectivism Scale in Two Cultures Switzerland and South Africa

This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism Scale (HVIC) and the Auckland Individualism and Collectivism Scale (AICS). The sample consisted of 1,403 working individuals from Switzerland (N = 585) and from South Africa (N = 818). Principal component factor analyses indicated that a two-factor structure replicated well across the two countries for both scales. In addition, the HVIC four-factor structure replicated well across countries, whereas the responsibility dimension of individualism of the AICS replicated poorly. Confirmatory factor analyses provided satisfactory support to the original theoretical models for both the HVIC and the AICS. Equivalence measurement indices indicated that the cross-cultural replicability properties of both instruments are generally acceptable. However, canonical correlations and correlations between the HVIC and AICS dimensions confirm that these two instruments differ in their underlying meaning of the individualism and collectivism constructs, suggesting that these two instruments assess individualism and collectivism differently.

Behavioral and psychological symptoms and cognitive decline in patients with amnestic MCI and mild AD: a two-year follow-up study

BACKGROUND Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has been defined as a transitional state between normal aging and dementia. In many cases, MCI represents an early stage of developing cognitive impairment. Patients diagnosed with MCI do not meet the criteria for dementia as their general intellect and everyday activities are preserved, although minor changes in instrumental activities of daily living (ADL) may occur. However, they may exhibit significant behavioral and psychological signs and symptoms (BPS), also frequently observed in patients with Alzheimers disease (AD). Hence, we wondered to what extent specific BPS are associated with cognitive decline in participants with MCI or AD. METHODS Our sample consisted of 164 participants, including 46 patients with amnestic (single or multi-domain) MCI and 54 patients with AD, as well as 64 control participants without cognitive disorders. Global cognitive performance, BPS, and ADL were assessed using validated clinical methods at baseline and at two-year follow-up. RESULTS The BPS variability over the follow-up period was more pronounced in the MCI group than in patients with AD: some BPS improve, others occur newly or worsen, while others still remain unchanged. Moreover, specific changes in BPS were associated with a rapid deterioration of the global cognitive level in MCI patients. In particular, an increase of euphoria, eating disorders, and aberrant motor behavior, as well as worsened sleep quality, predicted a decline in cognitive functioning. CONCLUSIONS Our findings confirm a higher variability of BPS over time in the MCI group than in AD patients. Moreover, our results provide evidence of associations between specific BPS and cognitive decline in the MCI group that might suggest a risk of conversion of individuals with amnestic MCI to AD.

Personality, tobacco consumption, physical inactivity, obesity markers, and metabolic components as risk factors for cardiovascular disease in the general population

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between personality traits, tobacco consumption, physical inactivity, obesity markers and metabolic components as cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs). A total of 2543 participants from the general population (CoLaus|PsyCoLaus) had provided complete information on physical health and unhealthy behaviors and completed the Revised NEO Five-Factor Inventory. Our results show a strong cross-correlation between obesity markers and metabolic components suggesting that their combination could represent an important CVRF. Moreover, socio-demographic characteristics, tobacco consumption, and physical inactivity were associated with both obesity markers and metabolic components latent traits. The conscientiousness personality trait was significantly associated with obesity markers, but played a modest role. Indeed, higher conscientiousness was associated with lower level of obesity indicators. However, no link between personality and metabolic components were found. In sum, our data suggest that health related behaviours have more effect on the development of cardiovascular diseases than personality traits.

Validation of an Adapted French Form of the Structured Interview for the Five-Factor Model (SIFFM) in a Swiss Sample

We analyzed the psychometric properties of the Structured Interview for the Five-Factor Model (SIFFM) in a French-speaking Swiss sample and compared the French version to the original English version. A community-based sample of 260 participants (183 women and 77 men, aged 20 to 88 years, Mage = 46.23, SDage = 16.37) were assessed using the SIFFM and the NEO-FFI-R. Forty of the participants agreed to be filmed or to be assessed by two investigators simultaneously. The internal consistency coefficients of the five dimensions of SIFFM ranged from .63 to .84. An exploratory factor analysis within the confirmatory factor analysis framework showed that the structure of the French version of the SIFFM was in line with the structure suggested by the Five-Factor Model. Except for the modesty and dutifulness subscales, each facet scale had its highest factor loading on the factor representing the targeted domain. Moreover, a principal axis joint factor analysis of the SIFFM and NEO-FFI-R domains suggested that the convergent validity between the two instruments was adequate. Furthermore, the interrater reliability coefficients for the SIFFM scores were high. The French version of the SIFFM shows acceptable psychometric properties, comparable to those of the English version, and may be an informative assessment method and an alternative to self-report measures.