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Abstract The contribution of early experiences towards the onset of personality disorder has often been stressed. However, the contribution to trait personality has received less attention. To examine the impact of early experiences on the development of personality, two subscale scores of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ): neuroticism (N) and extroversion (E), were used to assess a total of 220 residents of a rural city of Japan (aged ≥18 years). After controlling for age and social desirability response bias, the N score of men could be predicted by the experience of relocation; the E score of men by high parental care and low parental overprotection; and the E score of women by the experience of death of a sibling. Personality traits in a non-patient population may be explained by early experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have shown that deprivation of the infant rat from maternal care has pronounced effects on the stress system during ontogeny. Here we test the hypothesis that 24 h of maternal deprivation at postnatal day 3 will cause persistent changes in behaviour. Spatial learning and memory of male Brown Norway rats deprived as infants were observed in the Morris water maze at 3, 12, 24 and 30-32 months of age (young, adult, aged, senescent). Their nondeprived mother-reared littermates served as controls. (i) With increasing age, water maze performance declined in deprived and nondeprived groups. However, once the task was learned the animals maintained their good performance during retest at later ages. (ii) Maternal deprivation delayed acquisition until adulthood and caused at every age a higher degree of persistent behaviour as judged from the performance of deprived rats' free swim trials and reversal trials. (iii) At senescence the mean performance in the water maze did not differ between the groups. Instead, the individual performance was strikingly different within each group. Senescent deprived rats were either nonimpaired or impaired with only a few animals showing an intermediate performance. Thus, a large group of animals (≈ 40%) ages successfully as they are resistant to the effect of maternal deprivation. In contrast, the majority of the control animals displayed intermediate performance. Taken together, maternal deprivation has life-long consequences for behaviour and culminates at senescence in amplification of individual differences in learning ability rather than in a generalized deterioration of cognitive functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has indicated that adults with various anxiety disorders, especially social phobia, recall their parents as excessively protective and controlling and as low in socialization. However, it is not clear whether such results would be supported by parents. In the present study subjects with social phobia, panic disorder, and nonclinical subjects and their mothers were given parallel measures of maternal control, socialization, and offspring early introverted behaviors as well as several questions relating to two early major life events and family size. Anxious offspring reported the usual high maternal control and low paternal socialization and mother supported the data on socialization. On control, mothers provided mixed results, disagreeing on a more standard measure, but showing agreement on a more operationalized measure. The data were more consistent for social phobia than for panic disorder. In terms of early life factors, both anxiety disorders were associated with fewer friends and more introverted behaviors, while family size and two major life events did not differentiate groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]