Comparing 10-Item and 60-Item Big Five Personality Inventories in Explaining the Depressive Symptoms in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction

Depression is one of the most probable side effects of myocardial infarction (MI) besides its sudden occurrence, and is affected by various factors, such as personality traits.

Hence, the present study was conducted to compare 10-item and 60-item big five inventories in explaining the symptoms of depression in patients with acute MI.

The study population in this cross-sectional study comprised 250 patients with MI in Iran. The patients responded to 60-item NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), 10-item Big Five Inventory- Short Version (BFI-SV), and depression subscale from Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) from April to September 2018. Data was analyzed using chi-square test, Pearson correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression analysis.

Patients’ mean age (69.2% males) was 62.1 ± 11.1 years. The results showed a significant relationship between depression and factors of extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness in BFI-SV and factors of extroversion, neuroticism, and agreeableness in NEO-FFI (P < 0.05). The results of regression analysis showed that BFI-SV explained 6.7% and NEO-FFI explained 5.8% of the variance of depression score (P < 0.05).

BFI-SV explains the symptoms of depression in patients with MI as much as NEO-FFI. Thus, the researchers can use the 10-item version to assess the personality traits of patients with MI in future studies.