In the present study, Cloninger's dimensions of temperament and character have been investigated in patients with bipolar mood disorder-I (BMD-I), and obtained results were compared to those of healthy control participants from the general population.

This cross sectional study investigates 96 patients with BMD-I, selected based on DSM-IV-TR criteria, who are admitted into a psychiatry hospital due to an acute episode of mania, depression or mixed episode in year 2011 in Iran. After stabilization of acute phase, patients completed the 125-item Persian version of Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). Seven dimensions of temperament and character were compared between the designated bipolar group and 1212 healthy individuals via independent samples t-test. Moreover, the correlation between age, duration of disorder, and mood variables (depression and mania scores) with temperament and character inventory scores were assessed by Pearson's correlation coefficient.

Bipolar patients showed significantly higher harm avoidance (P=.001) and lower reward dependency (P=.001), persistence (P=.044), cooperativeness (P=.001), self-directedness (P=.001) and self-transcendence (P=.004) in comparison with healthy individuals. In females, Reward Dependency (P=0.001), Self-Directedness (P=0.001) and Cooperativeness (P=0.001) scores were lower. Furthermore, TCI scores had no significant correlation with scores related to depression and mania, duration of the disorder and marital status.

Personality profile of patients with BMD-I differ from those of healthy individuals. Lower scores on Self-Directedness and Cooperativeness in bipolar patients seem to be related with more immature personality traits.