Acne vulgaris (AV) is an inflammatory disease of the pilosebaceous unit. The relationship between personality and acne development has not been fully explained.

A new study published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology evaluated temperament-character traits of individuals with severe acne and compared them with healthy controls.

This study recruited 51 patients from a dermatology outpatient clinic who complained of acne and were diagnosed with severe AV, along with 47 healthy individuals as a control group. The forms including sociodemographic data, clinical information and Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) scores were applied to the patient and control groups.

The findings showed that the scores of scales/subscales of exploration (NS1), persistence (P), responsibility (S1), purposefulness (S2), resourcefulness (S3), self-acceptance (S4), enlightened 2^nd nature (S5), self-directedness (S), integrated conscience (C5) and cooperativeness (C) were statistically significantly lower in the patient group, when compared to the control group. Whereas, the scores of scales/subscales of worry and pessimism (HA1), fear of uncertainty (HA2), shyness (HA3), fatiguability (HA4) and harm avoidance (HA) were statistically significantly higher in the former group.

In conclusion, it was stated that on evaluation of patients with severe acne—in terms of temperament and character features—individuals’ feeling of discomfort about their appearance, may cause them to be less sociable, more anxious and to have low resourcefulness and virtues.

Source: Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology. 2020 Jul 3. doi: 10.1111/jocd.13589.