Evaluation of personality traits of patients with alopecia areata according to a five-factor model

Alopecia areata is one of the most common causesof hair loss. In this study, the personality traits and stress levelsof patients with alopecia areata were assessed and comparedwith a control group based on the NEO Five-Factor Inventory(FFI) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) questionnaires. This cross-sectional study was performed on 120patients with alopecia areata and 120 healthy individuals as acontrol group from 2015 to 2017 in Mashhad, Iran. The controlgroup was selected from the families of patients who did not havecurrent involvement and no history of alopecia areata, matchedby gender, mean age, and level of education. A dermatologistevaluated the severity score of alopecia in participants. TheNEO FFI and PSS questionnaires were used to assess patients’personality aspects. SPSS v. 20 was used to analyze the data. The results of the NEO FFI questionnaire showed thatstatistically, the mean score of neuroticism in alopecia areatapatients was significantly higher than in the control group(P = 0.023), but the extraversion and flexibility scores weresignificantly higher in the control group than in alopecia areatapatients (P = 0.026 & 0.049, respectively). The PSS questionnaireresults showed that the mean stress score of alopecia areatapatients was similar to the control group (P = 0.12). Our results suggest that compared with healthyindividuals, patients with alopecia areata have higher neuroticismscores and lower extraversion and flexibility scores on the NEOFFI.