A comparative study of personality aspects of females with depression using the antidepressant medications: selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs)

Abstract

According to the Cloninger’s biosocial model of personality, there is a relationship between neurotransmitters and different aspects of personality. The previous studies have shown that antidepressant medications affect these neurotransmitters, and subsequently lead to some variations in the temperamental aspects of personality, particularly the aspects that underlie depression. Given that different drugs have dissimilar impacts on the neurotransmitters, their effect on the corresponding aspects of personality is not the same. The aim of this study is providing a comparative analysis of the personality dimensions of female individuals with depression, who were treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) medications based on the Cloninger’s model of personality. The collected data from 86 women in accordance with the Temperament and Character Inventory revised version (TCI-R) were analyzed in two matched groups by multivariate analysis of variance method. The patients under the SSRI medications exhibited higher harm avoidance (P<0.05), while the TCA group demonstrated higher reward dependence (P<0.05). It is worth stressing that high scores in harm avoidance significantly affect the occurrence and recurrence of the depressive disorder, and reward dependence is highly related to the severity of the state of depression. Consequently, it can be concluded that the patients under TCA medications were in a better state in the personality traits associated with depression.

Keywords

• depression
• personality
• cloninger
• ssri
• tca.