The Relationship of Personality Traits and Ego Strength with the Severity of Functional Disability in Individuals with Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders
Keywords:
Personality traits, ego strength, functional disability, functional gastrointestinal disordersAbstract
This study aimed to investigate the direct relationships between personality traits and the severity of functional disability and to determine the mediating role of ego strength in individuals with functional gastrointestinal disorders. This quantitative, cross-sectional, correlational study was conducted using structural equation modeling. The statistical population comprised individuals with functional gastrointestinal disorders who attended Imam Hossein Hospital in Tehran, Iran, between September 2025 and March 2026 and whose diagnoses were confirmed by a gastroenterologist. A total of 350 participants were selected through nonprobability convenience sampling. Data were collected using the 36-item World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule, the 60-item Revised NEO Five-Factor Inventory, and the 32-item Psychosocial Inventory of Ego Strengths. Descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, structural equation modeling, path analysis, and the Sobel test were used for data analysis. SPSS and AMOS Version 24 were employed. The proposed structural model demonstrated an acceptable fit with the empirical data, with χ²/df = 1.71, RMSEA = .06, CFI = .94, NFI = .93, GFI = .94, and AGFI = .93. Ego strength had a significant negative direct effect on functional disability severity (β = −.44, p < .001). Among the personality dimensions, agreeableness (β = −.37, p < .001), conscientiousness (β = −.20, p < .001), and openness to experience (β = −.12, p < .05) significantly and negatively predicted functional disability. However, the direct effects of extraversion and neuroticism were not statistically significant. The Sobel test also confirmed the significant mediating role of ego strength in the relationship between certain personality traits and functional disability severity (Z = 2.84, p < .01). Ego strength appears to be an important psychological mechanism through which personality traits influence functional disability in individuals with functional gastrointestinal disorders. Greater agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and ego strength were associated with lower disability severity, highlighting the value of incorporating personality-informed assessment and ego-strengthening interventions into multidisciplinary care.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Maryam Saeid (Author); Mahboobe Taher; Hamid Vahedi , Abbas Ali Hosseinkhanzadeh (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
