The Differential Impacts of Alzheimer\u27s Dementia, Head Injury, and Stroke on Personality Dysfunction

Abstract

The current study was an attempt to empirically measure and compare the personality effects of Alzheimer\u27s dementia, stroke, and head injury. The study hypothesized that there are differences in the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2) patterns generated by the three groups. It was hypothesized that head injury shows the most personality dysfunction. The subjects included 124 stroke clients, 290 head injury clients, and 166 dementia clients. These individuals averaged 58.04 years old, while the mean education was 12.67 years with a minimum of 7 years. The individuals were mostly Caucasian, but included 80 African-Americans, Hispanics, or others. The average chronicity was 77.55 months. The dependent variables were the patient\u27s personality characteristics as measured by 15 MMPI-2 scales. A MANCOVA indicated that there was a significant difference among the three groups after covarying for age, education, and sex (F(30, 1116)=11.03,