• Viviana Lo Buono, Francesca Noto, Lilla Bonanno, Caterina Formica, and Francesco Corallo.
• IRCCS Centro Neurolesi Bonino Pulejo, 98100 Messina, Italy.
• Medicina (Kaunas). 2022 May 20; 58 (5).

Background And ObjectivesPersonality change is an important psychiatric complication following stroke linked to severe affective dysregulation and behavioral alterations.MethodsWe investigated personality traits in 20 patients (age 45.37 ± 13.41 years) with subacute stroke submitted to rehabilitation training within 1-3 months after a first-onset stroke. All patients underwent psychological evaluation by using the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 for adults (PID-5), a specific instrument that enables traits (dimensions and facets) to be assessed by providing a personality profile, and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems 47 (IIP-47), a brief and valid self-report measure for screening personality disorders.ResultsPersonality change was identified by a positive correlation IIP-47 and PID-5 (r = 0.76; p = 0.03). Our patients, after a stroke, presented maladaptive personality traits associated with negative affect such as anxiety, emotional lability, and rigid perfectionism, and they reported interpersonal problems. These negative affective disorders correlated positively with cluster C personality disorders, including the avoidant, dependent, and obsessive compulsive personality disorders.ConclusionPreliminary results show personality changes in stroke survivors. The evaluation of personality changes could be useful to improve the management of the patient's behavioral alterations in a familiar environment and permit the possibility of prevention of psychological distress of the patients and their respective caregivers.

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