ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to exam whether personality, i.e. temperament and character, has an association with a previous presence of psychotic features in euthymic bipolar I disorder. METHODS: We recruited 25 psychotic patients with bipolar I disorder, 23 non-psychotic bipolar I patients and 48 normal controls. All subjects were asked to perform Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). Euthymic state was defined in bipolar patients by scores of below 10 on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and on the Young Manic Rating Scale (YMRS). RESULTS: Psychotic bipolar patients, compared to normal controls, showed higher harm avoidance (HA) and self-transcendence (ST). In addition, HA in psychotic bipolar patients was higher than that in non-psychotic bipolar patients. However, no significant differences on TCI were demonstrated between non-psychotic patients and normal controls. CONCLUSION: There are significant discrepancies in personality between psychotic and non-psychotic bipolar patients on HA and ST. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis of a continuum between bipolar disorder with psychotic features and psychotic disorders.