Personality and schizophrenia: psychobiological model and its relationship with comorbidity.

Personality interacts with psychosocial variables, psychopathology and coping strategies of patients with schizophrenia. Psychobiological model of personality is important for schizophrenia as temperament dimensions, except dimension Persistence, have been associated with different neurotransmitter systems. Comorbidity of psychiatric and somatic disorders and syndromes is generally associated with dimensions high Harm avoidance and low Self-directedness. Variations in other dimensions may also be important. High Harm Avoidance may represent state vulnerability marker for various psychiatric disorders and is associated with appearance of comorbidity in schizophrenia. High Self-directedness may be protective factor for development of various psychiatric as well somatic comorbidity states.