Personality and Coping with Psychiatric Symptoms

Abstract

An attempt was made to extend and cross-validate Mayo's (1969) study of "normals with symptoms" using the new Personal Illness measures. Groups of psychiatric patients and symptom-free normals were matched with a "normals with symptoms" group for age and sex. The two symptom groups were similarly matched on the number of symptoms as assessed by the Delusions-Symptoms-States Inventory. On the Personality Deviance Scales the "normals with symptoms" were found to be the most Extrapunitive group, the symptom-free normals had the lowest Intropunitive scores, whilst the patient group were the lowest scorers on Dominance.