Personality and substance use disorder: Characteristics as measured by NEO-personality inventory-revised

Elise Constance Fodstad; Anastasia Ushakova; Ståle Pallesen; Egon Hagen; Aleksander Hagen Erga; Eilin Kristine Erevik

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.982763

Personality and substance use disorder: Characteristics as measured by NEO-personality inventory-revised

Front Psychol. 2022 Nov 7:13:982763. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.982763. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Elise Constance Fodstad^{1

2}, Anastasia Ushakova³, Ståle Pallesen¹, Egon Hagen², Aleksander Hagen Erga^{2

4}, Eilin Kristine Erevik¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychosocial Science, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
² Centre for Alcohol and Drug Research (KORFOR), Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway.
³ Department of Research, Section of Biostatistics, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway.
⁴ Department of Social Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway.

Abstract

The present study investigates the personality characteristics of a cohort of patients with Substance Use Disorders. The included participants (n = 123) were recruited from specialized treatment for addictions in Norway. The personality scores in the current sample were compared to the Norwegian norm sample with t-tests. Age and gender differences in personality scores were assessed by bivariate correlation analyses and t-tests, respectively. The sample had higher scores on Neuroticism and lower scores on Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Extraversion, and Openness compared to the norm sample (p < 0.01). The effect sizes of the differences between the current sample and the Norwegian norm sample were large for Neuroticism and Conscientiousness. Older participants scored higher on Agreeableness and its facets A1: Trust and A2: Straightforwardness and lower on the facet E5: Excitement-Seeking (p < 0.01). No significant (p < 0.01) gender differences in NEO-PI-R scores were found. In conclusion, the current results support previous findings regarding personality traits associated with SUD. The clinical relevance of the findings is discussed.

Keywords: Big Five; NEO-PI-R; addiction; five factor model; polysubstance use.