Personality, Alexithymia, and Anger in a sample of adults affected by Type 1 Juvenile-Onset Diabetes.

Introduction: The pathogenetic hypothesis of personality disorders considers the influence of both genetic/constitutional and environmental factors. Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a chronic and a disabling illness whose early onset could imply a stressor for affected individuals, with possible negative effects on personality development, on several emotional dimensions, such as anger, and on the ability to recognize and express emotions, namely the construct of alexithymia. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of T1D on personality traits, also focusing on emotional dimensions. Methodology: The sample is composed by fifthy-five subjects (age range 22-72 yrs) affected by type 1 diabetes, recruited from the Diabetes Outpatient Unit of the University Hospital of Messina, Italy. Diagnosis made on the basis of ADA criteria. All subjects were assessed with the following psychodiagnostic instruments: Big Five Questionnaire, TAS-20 and STAXI-2. Results: Performing statistical analyses, “Emotional Stability” (the opposite of Neuroticism on Big Five) scale score was inversely correlated with TAS-20 total score, and with STAXI-2 T-Ang, AXO, and AX-I scales scores. Moreover, Emotional Stability resulted directly correlated with STAXI2 AC-O scale score. Finally, the age at onset of T1D has been found to be a good predictor of the dimension Neuroticism (p.008), whereas the variable “Duration of illness” was a good predictor of T-Ang (P.004). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the presence of a chronic, early-onset and disabling illness such as TD1 may have a pathoplastic role on several personality traits and emotional dimensions. Particularly, two features of the disease, namely the age at onset, and duration of illness, resulted to be good predictors of neurotic and angry traits. Specific psychological approaches aimed to cope with negative emotions may have favorable implications for preventing and managing psychopathological problems in T1D patients.