Personality characteristics and stress in peptic ulcer patients and healthy individuals: a comparative study considering sex differences

 Background
and Objective: Personality is a principal factor in present relationship
between stress and health. Thus, it is not far from expectations that
psychosomatic diseases are affected by personality characteristics and coping
style with life stressor events. The aim of the present research was a
comparison between personality characteristic and stress
in patients with peptic ulcer disease
(PUD) and healthy individuals, considering their sex differences.   Materials and
Methods: This
research was a matched case-control study in which 60 patients, referring to 8
personal clinics with a diagnosis or a history of peptic ulcer based on the viewpoint
of a therapeutic physician were compared with 60 healthy individuals as the control
group, regarding personality characteristics and the level of experienced
stress. Males and females had the same number in both groups (30 males and 30
females). Research tools included Holmes and Rahe Social Readjustment Rating
Scale to measure the level of daily life stressors and NEO-Five Factor
Inventory (NEO-FFI) to evaluate 5 personality factors of Neuroticism (N),
Extroversion (E), Openness (O), Agreeableness (A), and Conscientiousness(C). The
research data were analyzed by SPSS (Version 16.0) and multivariate analysis of
variance (MANOVA) and regression (by enter method) tests.    Results: The level of stress in patients with PUD was
higher than that of control group. Considering the personality characteristics,
the patient's group had remarkably higher scores in (N), (E), and (O) and in
this circumstance had significant role the interactional effect of gender with disease
on levels of stress (p < 0.05). Regression analysis revealed that only
personality characteristic of Neuroticism (N) significantly predicted the
experienced stress (F=12.206 p < 0.01).   Conclusion:
Altogether, it is concluded that reducing the stress sources to the least
possible level in PUD patients seems necessary. Moreover, targeting the
characteristic of Neuroticism (N) is a key factor. From the personality
perspective, women with excessive level of openness (O) are at risk of PUD.