Affective Personality Traits in Olfactory Dysfunction: the Role of Dysthymia and Arousal

INTRODUCTION: Olfactory dysfunction can have a negative impact on emotional well-being. The aim of the present study was to examine associations between olfactory deficits and two affective personality characteristics (trait anxiety/trait depression). METHODS: A questionnaire study was conducted with a total of 116 participants (33 classified as anosmic, 40 as hyposmic, and 39 as normosmic). All participants gave self-reports on two facets of trait depression (dysthymia, euthymia) and trait anxiety (arousal, worrying). Due to the fact that in all three groups, trait depression and anxiety were substantially correlated, analyses of covariance were conducted. RESULTS: After controlling for trait depression, anosmic and hyposmic patients showed lower trait arousal compared to normosmic controls (partial η (2) = .05). After controlling for trait anxiety, patients scored higher on dysthymia (partial η (2) = .06). CONCLUSIONS: This study underlines the importance of statistically isolating specific associations between each of these affective personality characteristics and olfactory dysfunction. IMPLICATIONS: The present findings suggest that olfactory dysfunction can have opposite effects on facets of trait depression and trait anxiety.