Autism spectrum disorder and personality disorders: Comorbidity and differential diagnosis

Table 5 Summary of studies measuring big five personality traits in adults with autism spectrum disorder

Ref.	Partecipants	Comparison group	Measures	Personality trait measures	Results
Schwartzman et al[56], 2016	n = 364 adults with elevated ASD traits	n = 464 adults with lower ASD traits	RAADS-R	IPIP-NEO-120	Neuroticism was positively correlated with ASD symptomatology; Extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and agreeableness were negatively correlated with ASD; About 70% of the variance in RAADS-R scores accounted for by the IPIP-NEO-120 facets. A great variability in personality traits emerged in the elevated ASD traits group with four distinct clusters of FFM personality types
Schriber et al[55], 2014	n = 37 ASD (29% HFA, 57% AS, 14% PDD-NOS)	n = 42 NC	WAIS; ADOS G	BFI	Higher Neuroticism Lower Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness
Kanai et al[67], 2011	n = 64 AS	n = 65 NC	AQ; HADS; L-SAS	NEO-FFI	AQ, HADS, and L-SAS were significantly higher in AS than in control. Higher Neuroticism, Lower Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness AQ correlated with the subscale scores of HADS and NEO-FFI in AS
Strunz et al[26], 2015	n = 59 ASD(83% AS, 17% HFA)	n = 62 NPD,80 BPD, 106 NC	SCID-I/MINI	NEO-PI-R; DAPP BQ; SCID-II	On the NEO-PI-R: Conscientiousness: NCC = ASD > BPD and NPD Neuroticism: NCC < ASD = NPD < BPD; Extraversion: ASD < BPD, NPD, NCCOpenness for experience: ASD < NCC, BPD, NPDAgreeableness: ASD = BPD and NPD > NCCOn the DAPP-BQ: Inhibitedness: ASD = BPD > NCC and NPD Dissocial Behaviour: NCC = ASD < BPD and NPD; Emotional dysregulation: NCC < ASD = NPD < BPD Compulsivity: ASD > BPD, NPD, NCC
Hesselmark et al[62], 2015	n = 48 ASD	n = 53 NC	MINI	NEOPI-R	Satisfactory internal consistency of the NEOPI-R. Neuroticism correlated with psychiatric comorbidity in ASD group

BFI: Big five inventory; L-SAS: Liebowitz social anxiety scale; HADS: Hospital anxiety and depression scale; IPIP-NEO-120: International personality item pool representation of the NEO-PI-R; NEO-PI-R: Neo personality inventory revised.