Welch Brett, Helou Leah B, Wright Aidan
Department of Psychology, The University of Kansas, Lawrence.
Department of Communication Science and Disorders, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, PA.
J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2025 Jun 5;68(6):2759-2781. doi: 10.1044/2025_JSLHR-25-00034. Epub 2025 May 5.
Voice disorders associated with vocal hyperfunction are some of the most common vocal pathologies. Certain personality traits are thought to be a risk factor for developing these disorders. The trait theory of voice disorders (TTVD) provided a unified framework to understand these relationships. This study re-examines the TTVD by adopting current theories and methods from personality science.
This cross-sectional study recruited individuals diagnosed with primary muscle tension dysphonia (MTD) or a diagnosis associated with phonotraumatic vocal hyperfunction (PVH), that is, benign bilateral lesions of the lamina propria and bilateral or unilateral vocal fold polyp(s). Participants completed a contemporary personality battery. Data were analyzed via structural equation modeling and compared to vocally healthy controls.
Several significant differences existed between vocally healthy controls ( = 416) and participants with MTD ( = 71) or PVH ( = 38). Compared to the controls, participants with MTD reported lower levels of Stability, Plasticity, Conscientiousness, Openness/Intellect, and the corresponding aspects of Industriousness and Intellect, respectively. Conversely, the MTD cohort was significantly higher in Neuroticism and its two corresponding aspects, Withdrawal and Volatility. Likewise, when compared to controls, the PVH reported significantly lower levels of Stability, Agreeableness, its aspect Politeness, and the aspect of Industriousness. Finally, compared to the MTD cohort, individuals with PVH were higher on Extraversion, specifically the aspect of Assertiveness, and lower on the aspect of Politeness.
The current study largely replicates the initial TTVD studies and updates them with a modern theory of personality. These results provide a strong foundation for future investigations to continue to study the relationships between personality traits and voice disorders.
与发声功能亢进相关的嗓音障碍是最常见的嗓音病理学问题之一。某些人格特质被认为是引发这些障碍的风险因素。嗓音障碍特质理论（TTVD）为理解这些关系提供了一个统一的框架。本研究采用人格科学的当前理论和方法对TTVD进行重新审视。
这项横断面研究招募了被诊断为原发性肌肉紧张性发声障碍（MTD）或与发声创伤性发声功能亢进（PVH）相关诊断的个体，即固有层良性双侧病变以及双侧或单侧声带息肉。参与者完成了一套当代人格测评。通过结构方程模型对数据进行分析，并与嗓音健康的对照组进行比较。
嗓音健康的对照组（n = 416）与患有MTD（n = 71）或PVH（n = 38）的参与者之间存在若干显著差异。与对照组相比，患有MTD的参与者在稳定性、可塑性、尽责性、开放性/智力以及勤奋和智力的相应方面得分较低。相反，MTD队列在神经质及其两个相应方面，即退缩和易激惹方面显著更高。同样，与对照组相比，PVH组在稳定性、宜人性及其礼貌方面以及勤奋方面的得分显著更低。最后，与MTD队列相比，患有PVH的个体在外向性方面得分更高，特别是在 assertiveness方面，而在礼貌方面得分更低。
当前研究在很大程度上重复了最初的TTVD研究，并用人格现代理论对其进行了更新。这些结果为未来继续研究人格特质与嗓音障碍之间的关系提供了坚实的基础。
