Is There a Characteristic Personality Profile in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis?

Abstract

• A comparison of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory profiles of 21 men and 17 women who had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) with the profiles of 50,500 general medical patients showed no marked deviations. The validating scales of the men and the women were similar to those of the general medical population. There was no evidence of increased defensiveness in the group with ALS, as measured by either the L or the K scale, when compared with the general medical population. Individual patient interviews also showed no characteristic personality profile for ALS patients.