Comparison of Temperament- character Personality Characteristics among Addicted, Depressed, Anxious and Normal People

The current study aimed to compare the personality characteristics (temperament and character) of addicted, depressed, anxious and normal people. In this cross- sectional causal- comparative study, 120 participants consisting of 90 mental patients: 30 addicted,30 depressed and 30 anxious patients referred to therapeutic centers of Bojnord and normal people subjects of same city in 2011(1389.s.c) were selected. All participants were asked to complete the Cloninger et al. Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI),(1991) and data were analyzed using two- way ANOVA,MANOVA and Tukey post-hoc test. The results showed that in perseverance temperamental dimension, anxious patients and normal group had higher scores respectively which were significant in comparison with addicted patients(p<0.01).On the other hand, addicted and anxious patients significant had the highest mean scores in novelty- seeking and harm-avoidance temperamental dimensions respectively (p<0.01).The normal group had the highest scores on reward-dependence temperamental dimension which was significant in comparison with addicted patients(p<0.01).However, in self- leadership characteristic dimension no significant difference was found. Also significant difference were found in self- leadership between the addicted and the normal groups as well as between the two groups of anxious and depressed patients and the normal group (p<0.05), and in cooperation dimension, between the two groups of addicted and depressed persons and the normal group(p<0.01).The results of the current study showed that besides paying attention to biological factor among drug users, depressed and anxious patients, the role of emotional and cognitive factor should be assessed, to provide more suitable solutions and therapy.