Assocıatıon between clınıcal varıables of panıc dısorder and alexıthymıa, features of temperament and character

It is aimed to compare temperament and character features and levels of alexithymia between a group of panic disorder (PD) patients and healthy individuals in this study.The study comprised 60 panic disorder patients who had applied to Firat University Hospital Department of Psychiatry had been diagnosed with panic disorder according to the criteria of study and 62 healthy controls. Structured Clinical Interview for DSM?IV (SCID?I), Sociodemographic and Clinic Data Form, Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), Toronto Alexithymy Scale (TAS?20), were administered to both patients and healthy individuals. In addition, Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Panic and Agoraphobia Scale (PAS), Stait and Trait Anxiety Scale (STAI?I and STAI?II) were applied to patients.In the patients with panic disorder, with regard to temperament dimension, while the mean scores of harm avoidance (HA) were significantly higher, persistence (P) scores were lower compared to the scores of healthy controls. With regard to character dimension, the mean scores of self?directedness (SD) and cooperativeness (C) were significantly lower compared to healthy ones. In terms of levels of alexithymia, percent of alexthymia in patients was %35 (n=21), percent of alexthymia in healthy controls was %11.3 (n=7). Scores of difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty expressing feelings and total scores of alexithymia were found higher in PD group.The results of our study demostrated that there were diferences between PD patients group and control group in terms of TCI parameters and the levels of alexitymia. Further studies are required for investigating the causal associations between these differences and PD.Key Words: Panic disorder, alexithymia, temperament, character, personality