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 psychoticism (P), extroversion and introversion (E), and neuroticism (N) were measured with Eysenck's personality questionnaire (EPO). Stress was measured with a modified organizational and individual assessment survey (OIAS) developed by Hendrix. Military recruits from Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, were examined for soft‐tissue oral pathology and gingival status 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