Temperament, character traits, and alexithymia in patients with panic disorder

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic and clinical characteristics in patients with panic disorder and controls

	PD group	Control group	Statistical analysis
			t/χ^2	P-value
Sex, n (%)
Female	41 (68.3)	41 (66.1)	0.06	0.79
Male	19 (31.7)	21 (33.9)
Marital status, n (%)
Married	33 (55.0)	26 (41.9)	3.85	0.14
Single/divorced	27 (45.0)	36 (58.1)
Educational level, n (%)
Literate	2 (3.3)	2 (3.2)
Primary school	12 (20.0)	13 (21.0)	0.101	0.99
High school	22 (36.7)	23 (37.1)
College	24 (40.0)	24 (38.7)
Economic status, n (%)
Low/middle	3 (88.3)	60 (93.2)	3.65	0.16
High	7 (11.7)	2 (6.2)
Age (mean ± SD)	35.2±8.8	36.2±7.8	0.44	0.96
Age of PD onset (mean ± SD)	31.1±11.3
Total duration of PD, years (mean ± SD)	4.8±4.5
PAS score (mean ± SD)	20.5± 11.8

Note: t/χ² denotes the Student’s t-test and the chi-squared test, respectively.

Abbreviations: PD, panic disorder; PAS, Panic and Agoraphobia Scale; SD, standard deviation.

Table 2 Temperament and character TCI inventory scores in patients with panic disorder and controls

	PD group (n=60) mean ± SD	Control group (n=62) mean ± SD	P-value
Temperament
Novelty seeking	18.1±5.8	18.8±4.4	0.442
Exploratory excitability	5.4±2.3	5.7±1.9	0.399
Impulsiveness	3.9±1.8	4.3±1.9	0.400
Extravagance	4.4±2.0	4.6±2.2	0.677
Disorderliness	4.1±2.0	4.0±1.6	0.613
Harm avoidance	19.4±7.5	16.6±6.2	0.034
Anticipatory worry	6.2±2.9	5.5±2.2	0.143
Fear of uncertainty	4.6±1.9	4.0±1.8	0.932
Shyness	3.4±2.3	3.3±2.2	0.820
Fatigability	5.1±2.2	3.7±2.1	0.001*
Reward dependence	14.0±4.2	13.0±2.8	0.146
Sentimentality	7.2±2.2	6.8±1.4	0.173
Attachment	4.5±2.0	3.9±1.7	0.061
Dependence	2.1±1.3	2.3±1.5	0.514
Persistence	4.3±1.9	5.1±1.8	0.022
Character
Self-directedness	22.6±8.8	27.3±6.3	0.001*
Responsibility	3.7±2.4	4.7±1.8	0.007*
Purposefulness	4.5±2.0	5.7±1.7	0.001*
Resourcefulness	2.3±1.4	3.0±1.2	0.002*
Self-acceptance	4.6±2.6	5.4±2.5	0.055
Enlightened second nature	7.5±2.6	8.2±1.9	0.803
Cooperativeness	25.3±8.8	27.9±6.6	0.063
Social acceptance	4.7±2.1	5.7±1.7	0.007*
Empathy	3.6±1.7	4.2±1.5	0.034
Helpfulness	4.1±1.7	4.5±1.4	0.193
Compassion	6.4±2.9	6.5±2.9	0.904
Pure-hearted conscience	6.2±2.1	6.7±1.5	0.082
Self-transcendence	18.1±6.4	19.5±4.8	0.176
Self-forgetful	5.7±2.6	6.1±2.0	0.332
Transpersonal identification	5.1±2.2	5.3±1.9	0.652
Spiritual acceptance	7.2±2.9	8.0±2.6	0.121

Note:

* Statistically significant.

Abbreviations: PD, panic disorder; SD, standard deviation; TCI, Temperament and Character Inventory.

Table 3 Alexithymia TAS scores in patients with panic disorder and controls

	PD group (n=60)	Control group (n=62)	t-test	P-value
TAS	53.0±11.5	48.4±9.8	2.385	0.019*
TAS-F1	18.2±6.2	14.9±5.8	3.052	0.031*
TAS-F2	12.9±3.9	12.5±4.1	0.543	0.588
TAS-F3	21.8±3.6	21.0±3.2	1.299	0.211

Note:

* Statistically significant.

Abbreviations: PD, panic disorder; TAS, Toronto Alexithymia Scale; TAS-F1, difficulty identifying feelings; TAS-F2, difficulty describing feelings; TAS-F3, externally orientated thinking.

Table 4 Correlations of PAS scores with TAS and TCI scores in patients with panic disorder

	PAS score
	r	P-value
Temperament
Novelty seeking	0.324	0.012*
Harm avoidance	0.533	<0.01*
Reward dependence	0.201	0.124
Persistence	0.032	0.809
Character
Self-directedness	−0.185	0.157
Cooperativeness	−0.006	0.964
Self-transcendence	0.461	<0.01*
TAS score	0.447	<0.01*

Note:

* Statistically significant.

Abbreviations: TAS, Toronto Alexithymia Scale; Pas, Panic Agoraphobia Scale; TCI, Temperament and Character Inventory.