RELATIONSHIPS OF PERSONALITY-TRAITS AND STRESS TO GINGIVAL STATUS OR SOFT-TISSUE ORAL PATHOLOGY - AN EXPLORATORY-STUDY

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships of personality traits and stress with gingival inflammation and with soft-tissue oral pathology. Methods: Personality traits of psychoticis m (P), extroversion and introversion (E), and neuroticism (N) were mea sured with Eysenck's personality questionnaire (EPQ). Stress was measu red with a modified organizational and individual assessment survey (O IAS) developed by Hendrix. Military recruits from Ft. Leonard Wood, Mi ssouri, were examined for soft-tissue oral pathology and gingival stat us at weeks one (n=241) and six (n=61) of basic combat training (BCT). The EPQ and OIAS were administered to 217 recruits during week six of BCT. A discriminant analysis was used to determine correlations among study variables. Results: Significant correlations (P<.05) were found between personality traits and various measures of tolerance of stres s. Little variance was found between groups originally presenting with or without disease. Only physical stress (P<.05) was shown to affect soft-tissue pathology, while gingival inflammation correlated signific antly to E scores (P<.02), tolerance to change (P<.02), and anxiety (P <.05). Conclusions: Data support a possible relationship among certain personality traits, stress variables, and gingival inflammation or so ft-tissue pathology in recruits with extreme personality characteristi cs or perception of high physical stress levels in basic combat traini ng.