Personality Correlates of Certain Clinical Characteristics of Patients With Psychotic Disorders

Abstract: Our study aimed to link personality traits (Big Five plus proneness to psychotic-like experiences and behaviors, conceptualized as Disintegration) with clinical characteristics (gender, age, density of episodes, average antipsychotic doses, functionality, and symptom scores). We analyzed 137 patients with psychotic disorders (ICD-10: F20–F29) who had at least one psychotic episode, with illness duration ≤10 years, in remission. Canonical correlation analysis revealed that (1) Psychotic fragility (defined by high density of illness episodes, older age, and more severe symptoms) is associated with high Disintegration and Neuroticism; (2) Disorder severity (high antipsychotic doses, dysfunctionality, severe symptoms, younger age) is linked to low Agreeableness and Openness; and (3) Well-functioning patients (better functionality, milder symptoms) are predicted by a resilient personality profile. These findings deepen our understanding of personality–psychopathology relationships.