Personality traits beyond Neuroticism predict post-concussive symptomatology in the post-acute period after mild traumatic brain injury in premorbidly healthy adults

Abstract

There is growing evidence that an individual’s personality traits are related to post-concussion symptomatology beyond the acute period after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Few studies, however, have analyzed this impact beyond the personality trait of Neuroticism. We examined the impact of personality traits on post-concussion symptoms (PCS) by measuring the Big Five personality domains and their lower-order aspects in 87 pre-morbidly healthy participants assessed 6–12 weeks post-mTBI (n = 53) or physical trauma (n = 34). As expected, Neuroticism predicted PCS endorsement in both groups. Conscientiousness and Openness/intellect were predictive of lower PCS endorsement, but only in the mTBI group. Withdrawal, one aspect within the Neuroticism domain, independently predicted PCS endorsement in the mTBI group; the remaining Neuroticism aspect, Volatility, did not predict PCS endorsement in either group. These findings suggest that individuals high in Neuroticism are more likely to report PCS following mTBI and that this relationship is driven by susceptibility to depression/anxiety symptoms (Withdrawal aspect) rather than irritability (Volatility aspect). Further, they suggest that the current focus on the relationship between Neuroticism and PCS reporting in individuals with mTBI should be broadened to include other personality domains, such as Conscientiousness and Openness/intellect.

Keywords:

• Mild traumatic brain injury
• Neuroticism
• outcome
• personality
• post-concussive symptoms

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of post-graduate students and research assistants Georgia Bolt, Emily Cockle, Nicolette Ingram, Courtney Lewis, Katie Priestley, Joshua Nash, Aimee Savage, and Nicola Singleton for their assistance in collecting this data.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.