Behrooz Afshari¹, Fatemeh Jafarian Dehkordi¹, Jila Hasani1, Masoumeh Moghbeli Hanzaii¹, Hanieh Nasrollahizadeh¹, Ali Asghar Asgharnejad Farid², Zeinab Rezaie¹, Behnoosh Aramfar⁴, Zohreh Balagabri⁵, Nayereh Mardi⁵, Mohsen Mohebi⁴

¹Department of Clinical Psychology, Kashan University of medical sciences, Kashan, Iran
²Department of Clinical Psychology, School of Behavioral Sciences and mental health (Tehran Institute of Psychiatric), Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
³Thalas Babajani Health Network, Kermanshah, Iran
⁴Islamic Azad University-Kermanshah Branch, Iran
⁵Farhangian University of Kermanshah, Kermanshah, Iran

*Corresponding Author: Behrooz Afshari, Department of Clinical Psychology, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Iran.

Received: March 26, 2022; Published: April 29, 2022

Abstract

Background: Reinforcement sensitivity theory is a neurocognitive theory of personality that strives to explain the underlying structure of personality.

Aim: The present study aimed to address this issue by assessing the behavioral systems of revised-RST, i.e., BIS, BAS, fight, flight, and freeze among four populations.

Methods: Participants included 235 out-patients, of these, 54 met the DSM-5 criteria for OCD, 65 for GAD, 72 for SAD, and 44 for PD. Further, 82 healthy controls were recruited and matched on education and age. Then, participants completed demographic information and several questionnaires in Persian. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Chi-squared analyses, the independent t-tests, and MANCOVA was used to compare demographics and clinical variables in five groups.

Results: The mean score of GAD in r-BAS was higher than the other abnormal groups, but the mean score of r-BIS was higher for the OCD group. In addition, the PD group experienced the highest Fight as well as Flight mean score. Also, the GAD group experienced the highest mean score of Freeze. The greatest effect size was for r-BAS, whereas the effect size of the groups for Flight and Freeze was lower than the other scales.

Conclusions: More nuanced knowledge from RST may be helpful in the diagnosis, etiology, and continuation of common mental disorders. The results may help us understand better the personality-related psychopathology underlying OCD as well as anxiety disorders.

Keywords: Personality; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder; Anxiety Disorders

References

1. Association AP. “Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, (DSM-5^®): American Psychiatric Pub”. View Article Google Scholar (2013).
2. Langlois F., et al. “Differences and similarities between obsessive intrusive thoughts and worry in a non-clinical population: Study 1”. Behaviour Research and Therapy2 (2000): 157-173.
3. Afshari B. “Personality and anxiety disorders: examination of revised reinforcement sensitivity theory in clinical generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder”. Current Issues in Personality Psychology1 (2020): 52-60.
4. Corr PJ. “The reinforcement sensitivity theory of personality”. Cambridge University Press (2008).
5. Kaplan BJ. “Kaplan and sadock’s synopsis of psychiatry. Behavioral sciences/clinical psychiatry”. Tijdschrift Voor Psychiatrie1 (2016): 78-79.
6. Claridge G and Davis C. “Personality and psychological disorders”. Routledge (2013).
7. Corr PJ. “Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST): Introduction (2008).
8. Cloninger CR., et al. “The psychological costs and benefits of being highly persistent: personality profiles distinguish mood disorders from anxiety disorders”. Journal of Affective Disorders3 (2012): 758-766.
9. Flett GL., et al. “Self-oriented perfectionism, neuroticism and anxiety”10.7(1986): 731-735.
10. Kashdan TBJCt Research. “Social anxiety dimensions, neuroticism, and the contours of positive psychological functioning”. Cognitive Therapy and Research6 (2002): 789-810.
11. Sharma SJKUMJ. “Generalized anxiety disorder and personality traits”. Kathmandu University Medical Journal 4 (2003): 248-250.
12. Starcevic V., et al. “Personality dimensions in panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder”. Journal of Affective Disorders2-3 (1996): 75-79.
13. Carrera M., et al. “Personality traits in early phases of panic disorder: implications on the presence of agoraphobia”. Clinical Severity and Short‐Term Outcome 6 (2006): 417-425.
14. Gray J. “Problems in the behavioural sciences”. Vol. 5. The psychology of fear and stress. New York: Cambridge University Press (1987).
15. Pickering AD and Gray JA. “The neuroscience of personality”. Handbook of personality: Theory and Research 2 (1999): 277-299.
16. Corr PJ and Cooper AJ. “The Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory of Personality Questionnaire (RST-PQ): Development and validation”. Psychological Assessment11 (2016): 1427.
17. Mussap AJ. “Reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) and body change behaviour in males”. Personality and Individual Differences4 (2006): 841-852.
18. Gray J and McNaughton N. “The Neuropsychology of Anxiety, Oxford University Press”. New York (2000): 72-82.
19. Cremers HR and Roelofs K. “Social anxiety disorder: a critical overview of neurocognitive research”. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science4 (2016): 218-232.
20. Solmaz M., et al. “Temperament and character dimensions of personality in social anxiety disorder with and without comorbid major depressive disorder”. Klinik Psikofarmakoloji Bulteni 28 (2018): 96.
21. Reshadat S., et al. “A study of the correlation of personality traits (neuroticism and psychoticism) and self-efficacy in weight control with unhealthy eating behaviors and attitudes”. Annals of Medical and Health Sciences Research (2017).
22. First MB., et al. “The structured clinical interview for DSM-III-R personality disorders (SCID-II). Part I: Description”. Journal of Personality Disorders2 (1995): 83-91.
23. Afshari B., et al. “Examination and Comparison of Cognitive and Executive Functions in Patients with Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorders”. Journal of Isfahan Medical School 2019 (2019): 8.
24. Sharifi V., et al. “A persian translation of the structured clinical interview for diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: psychometric properties”. Comprehensive Psychiatry1 (2009): 86-91.
25. Hasani J and Rasoli Azad M. “Psychometric Properties of Jackson’s Five Factor Questionnaire: Scales of revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (r-RST) (2012).
26. Afshari B., et al. “Comparison of original and revised reinforcement sensitivity theory in clinically-stable schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Patients”. Personality and Individual Differences 138 (2019): 321-327.
27. Goodman WK., et al. “The Yale-Brown obsessive compulsive scale: I. Development, use, and reliability”. Archives of General Psychiatry11 (1989): 1006-1011.
28. Mohammadkhani S. “The role of fusion beliefs and metacognitions in obsessive-compulsive symptoms in general population”. Practice in Clinical Psychology 2 (2013): 97-104.
29. Esfahani SR., et al. “Reliability and Validity of the Persian version of the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive scale (Y-BOCS)”. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology4 (2012).
30. Spitzer RL., et al. “A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: the GAD-7”. Archives of Internal Medicine10 (2006): 1092-1097.
31. Afshari B., et al. “Examination and comparison of cognitive and executive functions in clinically stable schizophrenia disorder, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder”. Depression Research and Treatment (2020).
32. Tashkeh M and Bazani M. “Prediction of social anxiety by cognitive emotional regulation and emotional schema in female and male students”. Zanko Journal of Medical Sciences 50 (2015): 72-83.
33. Bandelow B., et al. “The use of the Panic and Agoraphobia Scale (P & A) in a controlled clinical trial”. Pharmacopsychiatry05 (2000): 174-181.
34. Afshari B and Hasani J. “Study of dialectical behavior therapy versus cognitive behavior therapy on emotion regulation and mindfulness in patients with generalized anxiety disorder”. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy4 (2020): 305-312.
35. Wang C-Y., et al. “Association between Internet gaming disorder and generalized anxiety disorder”. Journal of Behavioral Addictions4 (2017): 564-571.
36. Mohammadi E and Shadbafi M. “Comparison of Sensitivity to Reward and Punishment, Response Inhibition and Sustained Attention Between School Boys With Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Sluggish Cognitive Tempo”. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology2 (2021): 180-193.
37. Mahmood Alilou M., et al. “Structural Relationships Between Behavioral Brain Systems, Disgust Sensitivity, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder”. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology4 (2018): 466-479.
38. Arcus D. “Inhibited and uninhibited children: Biology in the social context (2001).
39. Graeff FG. “Anxiety, panic and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis”. Revista Brasileira De Psiquiatria 29 (2007): s3-s6.
40. Quarantelli EL. “The sociology of panic” (2001).
41. Bijttebier P., et al. “Gray's Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory as a framework for research on personality–psychopathology associations”. Clinical Psychology Review5 (2009): 421-430.
42. Wilhelm FH., et al. “Mechanisms of virtual reality exposure therapy: The role of the behavioral activation and behavioral inhibition systems”. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback3 (2005): 271-284.
43. Foa EB., et al. “The impact of fear activation and anger on the efficacy of exposure treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder”. Behavior Therapy3 (1995): 487-499.
44. Campbell-Sills L., et al. “Psychometric evaluation of the behavioral inhibition/behavioral activation scales in a large sample of outpatients with anxiety and mood disorders”. Psychological assessment3 (2014): 244.

Citation

Citation: Behrooz Afshari., et al. “Personality and Mental Disorders: Examination and Comparison of Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory of Personality in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Anxiety Disorders". Acta Scientific Neurology 5.5 (2022): 51-58.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2022 Behrooz Afshari., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.