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Life Events and Personality Traits in Obsessive-Compulsive Neurosis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Joseph Mckeon ,
Bridget Roa  and
Anthony Mann
Joseph Mckeon
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF
Bridget Roa
Affiliation:
St George's Hospital, Blackshaw Road, London SW17 0QT
Anthony Mann
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry
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Summary

Twenty-five patients with obsessive-compulsive neurosis and matched controls had their life event scores (Paykel's Life Event Schedule) rated for the year prior to the onset of illness and the date of interview, respectively. The Standard Assessment of Personality Schedule, whose high inter-temporal and inter-informant reliability was confirmed, was used to rate the patients' premorbid personality.

The obsessive-compulsive patients' mean life event score was significantly higher than the control subjects; and this excess spanned the six months prior to the onset of illness. Patients with abnormal personality traits (obsessional, anxious and self-conscious) experienced significantly fewer life events than those without such traits.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 144 , Issue 2 , February 1984 , pp. 185 - 189
Copyright
Copyright © 1984 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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