Personality profiles in asthma

Abstract

Hospitalized asthma patients (155) were administered the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) to evaluate the existence of common personality characteristics. When the full sample was divided into subgroups according to age, sex and duration of the illness, patterns emerged that appeared largely explicable by these variables rather than the asthma per se. The single most frequent pattern observed across these subgroups was a V-shaped configuration of a "neurotic triad" (scales 1, 2 and 3). This pattern was not unique to asthma, but was also characteristic of other chronic illness populations and seemed to represent a defensive stance in coping with the problems of chronic illness. The findings spoke against any stereotypic asthmatic personality. It appeared more profitable to investigate individual personality patterns associated with coping styles and their relationship to the illness via behaviors that either maintain or delimit the effects of chronic asthma.