European Journal of Psychological Assessment © 2001 Hogrefe & Huber Publishers September 2001 Vol. 17, No. 3, 241-250 For personal use only--not for distribution doi: 10.1027//1015-5759.17.3.241 Articles Psychometric Properties of the Spanish Version of the BSI Contributions to the Relationship Between Personality and Psychopathology M. Ángeles Ruipérez Department of Psychology, Jaume I University of Castelló, Spain M. Igancio Ibáñez Department of Psychology, Jaume I University of Castelló, Spain Esther Lorente Department of Psychology, Jaume I University of Castelló, Spain Micaela Moro Department of Psychology, Jaume I University of Castelló, Spain Generós Ortet Department of Psychology, Jaume I University of Castelló, Spain Summary: This study investigates in a nonclinical sample some aspects of the reliability and validity of the Spanish adaptation of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) as well as the relationship of personality dimensions and psychopathological symptoms. Factor analysis showed a six-factor structure: depression, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, obsession-compulsion, somatization, and hostility/aggressivity. Alpha reliabilities for the six BSI scales showed optimal indices (between 0.70 and 0.91). Furthermore, the relationships among BSI-extracted factors and extraversion (E), neuroticism (N), and psychoticism (P) scales of the EPQ-R were also studied. Phobic anxiety and somatization were related to N and P; hostility/aggressivity was related to N, P and E; obsession-compulsion was related to N, P and inversely to E. In conclusion, the Spanish version of the BSI is a reliable, valid, and rapid tool for the assessment of symptoms of depression, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, obsession-compulsion, somatization, and hostility/aggressivity in the nonclinical population. Keywords: Symptom assessment, psychopathology, personality, BSI, EPQ-R The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI; Derogatis 1975; Derogatis & Melisaratos, 1983) is a very frequently used self-administered dimensional scale in mental health assessment (Switzer, Dew, & Bromet, 1999). This extensive use is probably due to its major advantage, namely, the balance between a brief format and a relatively wide domain of psychopathology symptoms assessed. The BSI has been elaborated by Derogatis (1975) in order to rapidly assess symptoms of psychological disorders. This inventory was developed as an abbreviated version of the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R) (Derogatis, 1977). The SCL-90-R is made up of nine scales embracing the primary dimensions of psychopathological symptoms: somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism. The factor structure obtained in the study of Derogatis and Melisaratos (1983) reflects these factors in the BSI, albeit with some variation. Basically, the interpersonal sensitivity scale disappears and the anxiety scale is divided into two factors, one including aspects related to panic attacks, the other related to general or floating anxiety. Hence, the final BSI format is made up of 49 items grouped into nine scales: psychoticism, somatization, depression, hostility, phobic anxiety, obsession-compulsion, anxiety (panic), paranoid ideation, and nervous tension. However, subsequent research into the BSI or the SCL-90-R have obtained factor solutions that show variations with respect to those found in the original studies. Structures of six factors (Hayes, 1997), five factors (Johnson, Murphy, & Dimond, 1996), four factors (Cyr, Doxey, & Vigna, 1988; Hafkenscheid, 1993; Schwartzwal, Weisenberg, & Solomon, 1991) and even one single factor of general discomfort (Benishek, Hayes, Bieschke, & Stoffelmayr, 1998; Bonynge, 1993; Boulet & Boss, 1991; Piersma, Boes, & Reaume, 1994) have been reported. Variations in factor structure have been attributed mainly to differences in factor analysis procedure (Hayes, 1997) or to the use of different clinical samples (Schwartzwal et al., 1991). Thus, the proposed factor structure of the BSI seems to be dubious and in need of further research (Hayes, 1997), specially in nonclinical samples, since the BSI was conceived to measure symptoms from a dimensional perspective and designed to be used in both clinical and nonclinical population. The BSI has been used for different purposes and in different cultural contexts. Some studies have focused on the BSI scales (e. g., Acosta, Nguyen, & Yamamoto, 1994; Gershuny & Sher, 1998; Gotham & Sher, 1996; Kushner, Sher, Wood, & Wood, 1994), but perhaps their most widespread use has been as an indicator of psychological discomfort or as a General Severity Index (GSI) (e. g., Osman, Barrios, Haupt, King, Osman, & Slavens, 1996; Ritsner, Rabinowitz, & Slyuzberg, 1995; Sannibale & Hall, 1998; Sher, Wood, Crews, & Vandiver, 1995; Sher, Wood, & Gotham, 1996). Furthermore, versions of BSI have been developed in Italian (De Leo, Frisonai, Rozzoni, & Trabucchi, 1993), Polish, Filipino (Aoian, Patsdaughter, Levin, & Gianan, 1995), Korean (Noh, Avison, & Kaspar, 1992), and Russian (Ritsner et al., 1995), among others. These translations, however, have not been accompanied by adequate validation studies, in particular with regard to the internal BSI structure, which, as we have seen, presents some variations according to the study in question. In addition to the internal structure, there are other interesting components in the evaluation of the validity of a given construct, such as its external structure and, in particular, its nomological network, i. e., its relationship with other relevant constructs (Messick, 1989). In this sense, the basic dimensions of personality extraversion (E), neuroticism (N), and psychoticism (P) proposed by Eysenck are of special interest since one of the starting points of the E, N, and P dimensions has actually been the dimensional conception of psychological disorders. Eysenck thought that normal and abnormal individuals differ quantitatively from each other along independent dimensions of personality and suggested that the three-dimensional space of personality may be regarded as a measure of individual vulnerability to different kinds of psychological disorders. Specifically, the two dimensions most directly implicated in psychological disorders would be N, related to neurotic-type disorders, and P, related to psychotic-type disorders. The dimension of E would interact with the aforementioned dimensions to determine different disorders (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1985). According to Eysenck's general assumptions, Zuckerman (1999) has proposed a diathesis-personalitystress model in which genetic-biologic variables, personality dimensions and stressful events are key factors in the vulnerability to psychopathology, although its role and relevance would depend on the specific psychological disorder. Thus, the study of the relationship between the factors obtained in the Spanish version of BSI and the E, N, and P scales can provide relevant information with regard to the influence of personality dimensions in specific psychopathologies. This study aims to investigate aspects of the reliability and validity of the Spanish adaptation of the BSI in a nonclinical sample. The internal structure of BSI is studied as well as aspects of the external structure, in particular the relationship of the extracted factors with the basic personality dimensions of extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism proposed in Eysenck's model. The data obtained may be relevant with regard to a rapid, reliable and valid assessment of specific psychopathological symptoms, as well as to a better understanding of the relationship between basic personality dimensions and symptoms of psychological disorders. Method Participants The Spanish versions of the BSI and the short form of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-revised (EPQ-RS) were given to a nonclinical sample of 254 participants. The sample was composed of 105 males of age 18 to 63, the mean age being 28.7; and 149 females of age 16 to 70, the mean age being 27.8. 105 (41.3%) were undergraduate psychology students at Jaume I University of Castelló in Spain, and 149 were recruited by a “snowball” technique in which the psychology undergraduates recruited friends and family to participate voluntarily. The occupations of these nonstudents participants were housewives (15), civil servants (32), clerical staff (14), university degree professions (7), laborers (50), and businessman (4); 27 participants did not report their occupation. Measures The BSI (Derogatis & Melisaratos, 1983) includes 49 items grouped into nine scales that encompass nine primary dimensions of psychopathological symptoms: psychoticism, somatization, depression, hostility, phobic anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, anxiety (panic), paranoid ideation, and nervous tension. Each BSI item is rated on a 5point scale (0 to 4) according to manifestations of symptoms in the last 30 days (ranging from “notat-all” to “extremely”). This is a brief definition of the nine scales: I. Psychoticism: Schizoid signs and social alienation symptoms. II. Somatization: Physiological symptoms such as headaches, gastric or respiratory problems. III. Depression: A broad range of signs and symptoms of the clinical syndrome of depression (dysphoric affect, loss of interest in life activities, or loss of vital energy). IV. Hostility: Includes aspects of irritability, aggressiveness, and impulses to break objects or striking, among others. V. Phobic anxiety: Assesses aspects of phobic anxiety or agoraphobia such as the fear of traveling, of open spaces, of crowds, or of public places. VI. Obsessive-compulsive: This scale focuses on thoughts or actions that are experienced unremitting and irresistible by the patient, but are of unwanted nature. VII. Anxiety (panic): Considers symptoms of episodes of panic and acute fear. VIII. Paranoid ideation: The characteristics assessed refer to being susceptible, full of mistrust or with fear of loss of autonomy, among others. IX. Nervous tension: Assesses aspects related to general or floating anxiety such as tension or nervousness. As to reliability, Derogatis and Melisaratos (1983) presented appropriate coefficients of internal consistency of the BSI ranging from 0.71 to 0.85 and test-retest reliability ranging from 0.68 to 0.91. Other studies have reported similar estimates (e. g., Aroian et al., 1995; Boulett & Boss, 1991; Hayes, 1997; Johnson et al., 1996). As to validity, Derogatis and Melisaratos (1983) provided good evidence for the construct validity of the BSI. However, other studies have yielded more mixed results (see Johnson et al., 1996), especially for the psychoticism scale (e. g., Aroian et al., 1996; Wood, 1982). Furthermore, factor studies using rotated solutions found structures of five to nine factors (e. g., Derogatis & Melisaratos, 1983; Johnson et al., 1996; Hayes, 1997), with psychoticism being the most problematic factor as well. The EPQ-R (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1991) was developed to assess the basic personality dimensions of extraversion (E), neuroticism (N) and psychoticism (P) of the model postulated by Eysenck (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1985). The Spanish adaptation of the EPQR (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1997) includes scales of the basic personality dimensions that refer to the following traits (Ibañez, Ortet, & Moro, 1999): A. Positive emotionality, sociability, spontaneity, vitality and surgency. B. Negative emotionality, anxiety, sensitivity, preoccupation and selfconsciousness. C. Cruelty, impulsiveness, low socialization, antagonism, nonconformity and schizoidism. In terms of reliability, the α coefficients of internal consistency of the Spanish EPQ-R (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1997) are P, 0.73 for men and 0.71 for women; E, 0.82 for men and 0.80 for women; N, 0.86 for men and 0.86 for women. Test-retest reliabilities are 0.72 for P; 0.86 for E and 0.82 for N with an interval of one month. As to validity, several studies with the Spanish EPQ-R have provided good evidence for construct validity (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1997; Grau & Ortet, 1999; Ibáñez et al., 1999; Ortet, Ibáñez, Moro, Silva, & Boyle, 1999; Ortet, Ibáñez, Llerena, & Torrubia, in press). Procedure The adaptation of the BSI to the Spanish socio-cultural context involved the participation of several investigators from the International Center of Mental Health (I.C.M.H.) in Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York University (including the first author). In attention to methodological concerns surrounding adaptation processes (Flaherty, Gaviria, Pathak, Mitchell, Wintrob, Richman, & Birz, 1988; van de Vijver & Poortinga, 1997), all the investigators were mental health professionals experienced with cultural studies, and their mother tongue was either Spanish or English, but all were proficient in both languages. In order to investigate the internal structure of the BSI, an exploratory factor analysis of Principal Components with Oblimin rotation was carried out. An oblique rotation was chosen because factors were considered to be related (Gorsuch, 1983; Hayes, 1997). Only items that loaded above 0.30 for their respective factor were selected. Based on the pattern matrix, a scale score for each factor was obtained. The internal consistencies of the scales were calculated using Cronbach's α coefficient. Given the widespread use of BSI as an index of psychological discomfort, the GSI was also obtained, this being the sum total of all items in the Spanish version of BSI; its internal consistency was also calculated. Furthermore, means and standard deviations for the scales were obtained with regard to males and females in the Spanish sample. The t-test was used to compare the means as a function of sex. The intercorrelations of the scales were subsequently calculated. In order to investigate the external structure of the BSI, the correlations between the BSI scales and the E, N, and P scales of the EPQ-R were obtained. Finally, a stepwise multiple regression analysis was carried out for each of the scales of the BSI as a function of the E, N, and P variables. Results The factor solution closest to the original BSI - being the most coherent as a function of factor content and having an adequate number of items for each factor - was the 6-factor solution, accounting for 52.6 of the variance. Three items were eliminated: item 7 (pains in heart or chest) because it appeared to constitute a sole factor in itself; item 9 (thoughts of ending your life) and item 49 (the idea that something is wrong with your mind), because loadings were less than 0.30 in their respective factors. In accordance with factor loadings, the depression scale would be integrated by eight elements, i. e., four of the seven items regarding depression in the original BSI, as well as three items from the original psychoticism scale (items 13, 39, and 41), and a further item from the original anxiety (panic) scale (item 18). The phobic anxiety scale would be made up of seven elements: four phobic anxiety items from the original BSI, a further two anxiety (panic) items (items 11 and 42), and one item for somatization from the original BSI (item 27). The paranoid ideation scale is made up of nine elements and includes all the items in the paranoid ideation scale (six items), plus one item from the psychoticism scale (item 3), one item from the depression scale (item 19), and one item from the hostility scale (item 6), all items from the original BSI. The obsessioncompulsion scale consists of 10 elements, i. e., all the items of the original obsession- compulsion scale (six items), plus three items from the original psychoticism scale (items 21, 32, and 47), as well as a further item for phobic anxiety from the original BSI (item 40). The somatization scale is made up of seven elements: five of the six items from the original somatization scale, plus two items from the original nervous tension scale (referring to somatic aspects of anxiety) (items 28 to 36). The hostility/aggressivity scale is made up of five elements: four of the five items from the original hostility scale, plus one item from the original nervous tension scale (item 46). Lastly, the GSI was calculated as the sum total of the 46 items in the Spanish version of the BSI. Internal consistency for the scales was calculated using Cronbach's α coefficients. All BSI scales showed optimal indices of reliability: 0.91 on the depression scale; 0.79 on the phobic anxiety scale; 0.86 on the paranoid ideation scale; 0.87 on the obsessioncompulsion scale; 0.77 on the somatization scale; and 0.70 on the hostility/aggressivity scale. For the GSI, the α coefficient was 0.95. Furthermore, means and standard deviations for each scale in the Spanish sample were obtained for men and women, as well as differences between sex were established (see Table 2). Even though women obtain higher scores on all BSI scales (with the exception of the hostility/aggressivity scale), significant differences appeared only in the phobic anxiety, somatization, and GSI scales. With reference to the EPQ-R scales, women obtain higher scores in the N scale and lower scores in the P scale, as is usually found. The intercorrelations of scales were calculated for the Spanish adaptation of the BSI, as well as the correlations of these scales with the scales of the Spanish version of the EPQ-R (see Table 3). Furthermore, correlations between the EPQ-R scales were also calculated, showing a significant relation between E and N (r = -0.21; p < .01). The stepwise multiple regression analysis showed the influence of E, N, and P on the BSI scales. N and E accounts for 38% of the variance in the depression scale, N accounts for 20% of the variance in the phobic anxiety scale and for 24% of the variance on the somatization scale. N and P account for 32% of the variance in the paranoid ideation scale, while the N, P, and E account for 35% of the variance in the obsession-compulsion scale and 29% of the variance in the hostility/aggressivity scale. Finally, N, E, and P account for 47% of the variance in the general severity index (GSI) of the BSI (see Table 4). Discussion Factor analysis shows a six-factor structure that we called depression, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, obsession-compulsion, somatization, and hostility/aggressivity. The depression factor refers to feelings of loneliness, sadness, a lack of interest for things in general, fears, timidity, shame, and despair, with the item “feeling lonely” acting as a marker. This factor would include symptoms typical of depressive disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 1994), even though dysphoric symptoms may be present in the majority of psychological disorders. The phobic anxiety factor includes aspects such as panic attacks or intense fear associated with open spaces, traveling on a bus, on the subway, or on a train, with the item “feeling afraid to travel on buses, subways, or trains” acting as a marker. This factor would fundamentally include symptoms related to panic disorders with agoraphobia (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). The paranoid ideation factor refers to feelings of distrust, suspicion, irritability, and delirious ideation, with the item “feelings others are to blame for most of your troubles” acting as a marker. This factor includes symptoms of paranoid personality disorder as well as aspects of schizotypal personality disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). The obsession-compulsion factor includes reiterative and verification behaviors as well as problems of concentration, mental blockage, feelings of restlessness, guilt, inferiority, and self-depreciation, with the item “having to check and double-check what you do” acting as marker. The presence of items of inferiority and self-depreciation as well as loadings of some items of the obsession-compulsion factor in the depression factor could be attributed to the high comorbidity found between depression and obsessive-compulsive disorders (see Scarrabelotti, Duck, & Dickerson, 1995). This factor would fundamentally include symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorders and, to a lesser extent, obsessive-compulsive or anachastic personality disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). The somatization factor refers to sensations of tension, weakness, spasms, dizziness, stomach upsets, tremors, and shivers, with the item “feeling tense or keyed up” acting as a marker. These symptoms would be mainly included in somatization disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 1994), even though they may also appear in other psychological disorders. Finally, the hostility/aggressivity factor refers to impulsive behavior of an antisocial type, anger, and hyperactivity, with the item “having urges to beat, injure, or harm someone” acting as a marker. This last factor would align itself with the original hostility scale, though we have added the term aggressivity with a view toward more adequately describing the factor content. Although it is difficult to establish a diagnostic category associated with this factor, we could consider these symptoms as characteristic of an antisocial personality disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). The factor structure described shows an acceptable degree of resemblance with the original BSI study (Derogatis & Melisaratos, 1983), but with a few variations worth mentioning; the most important being the disappearance of the scales of psychoticism, anxiety (panic), and nervous tension from the original BSI. Basically, the items of the original BSI psychoticism scale referring to feelings of loneliness, timidity and interpersonal distancing, have been located in the depression factor, while items referring to strange thoughts have been positioned in the paranoid ideation factor. Furthermore, the anxiety (panic) and nervous tension scales from the original BSI have been fundamentally distributed between the factors phobic anxiety and somatization. The fact that the psychoticism factor did not emerge in our study may be explained because this form of psychopathology is probably not prevalent in a nonclinical population (Hayes, 1997). The six-factor solution in the present study highly resembles the proposal by Hayes (1997). In this study, the author carried out an exploratory factor analysis in a first sample of clients from college and university counseling centers. In accordance with the structure obtained, he proceeded to do a confirmatory factor analysis in a second sample. The results obtained demonstrated a robust structure of the six factors he designated: depression, somatization, hostility, social comfort, obsession-compulsion, and phobic anxiety. The social comfort factor was formed by eight items, six of them coinciding with items of the paranoid ideation scale obtained in the present study. Hence, despite the difference in nomenclature, the social comfort factor would be equivalent to the paranoid ideation factor obtained in our study. Thus, the six-factor structure of the BSI seems the most adequate in the nonclinical population. The six-factor solution is not incompatible with the use of the BSI as a measure of psychological discomfort or as a GSI. The high intercorrelations for all BSI scales as well as the high internal consistency of the GSI would justify a total BSI score. Furthermore, correlational data and regression analysis show the relevance of neuroticism in all the BSI scales and specially in the GSI, suggesting that there is a general BSI factor associated with affective and emotional-type disorders. So, the total BSI score GSI can be interpreted as a reliable and valid measure of negative emotionality and psychological distress, fitting in with studies that have obtained a factor solution for a sole general distress factor (e. g., Benishek et al., 1998; Bonygne, 1993; Boulet & Boss, 1991; Piersma et al., 1994). Nevertheless, the regression analysis also shows the differential contribution of E, N, and P to each cluster of symptoms of the BSI. Thus, somatization was associated with neuroticism. Accordingly, several studies with somatization or related scales have found a high relationship between somatization symptoms and N (Deary, Scott, & Wilson, 1997; Hollifield, Tuttle, Paine, & Kellner, 1999; Ortet et al., in press). Phobic anxiety was related to neuroticism, whereas depression was related to both neuroticism and introversion. Other studies with various anxiety and depression scales have obtained results that clearly support the relationship of anxiety and depression with N (e. g., Del Barrio, Moreno-Rosset, López-Martinez, & Olmedo, 1997; Gershuny & Sher, 1998; Ortet et al., in press; Saklofske, Kelly, & Janzen, 1995; Watson & Clark, 1995). The relationship of anxiety and depression with E is less clear, although, in general, it seems that introversion is more consistently associated with depression than with anxiety (see Watson & Clark, 1995). In this way, Watson and Clark (1995; see also Mineka, Watson, & Clark, 1998) proposed that negative affect/neuroticism represents a nonspecific factor common to anxiety and depression, whereas (low) positive affect/extraversion is a specific factor related primarily to depression. Paranoid ideation was related to both neuroticism and psychoticism. In line with this, several studies have found that the paranoid personality disorder is related fundamentally to N but also to P (Deary, Peter, Austin, & Gibson, 1998; O'Boyle, 1995; O'Boyle & Holzer, 1992). Accordingly, Kreitler and Kreitler (1997) have shown that traits related to N, such as anxiety, and to P, such as sensation seeking and impulsivity (Ortet et al., in press; Zuckerman, 1994), are characteristic of patients with paranoidtype disorders. Hostility/aggressivity was related to neuroticism, psychoticism, and extraversion. Eysenck regards hostility (or aggressivity) as a trait of P (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1985), whereas the five-factor model of personality considers angry hostility to be basically a facet of N (Costa & McCrae, 1992). In accordance with both personality models, hostility/aggressivity seem to be related to both N and P (e. g., Eysenck et al., 1992; Ortet et al., in press; Zuckerman, 1994), although various studies also have found relationships with E at a lower level (Eysenck et al., 1992; Ortet et al., in press). Studies on antisocial personality disorder (APD) have shown that APD is mainly related to P, but N and E have not shown consistent relationships (Deary et al., 1998; O'Boyle, 1995; O'Boyle & Holzer, 1992). Finally, obsession-compulsion was related to neuroticism, introversion, and psychoticism, in accordance with the idea that obsessiveness “… has some affinity with psychosis …” (p. 113, Eysenck et al., 1992). In line with this, studies show a clear relationship between N and both obsessive-compulsive scales (Abdel-Khalek, 1998; Eysenck et al., 1992; Scarrabelotti et al., 1995; Sanavio, 1988; Stanley, Prather, Beck, Brown, Wagner, & Davis, 1993; van Oppen, 1992) and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder scales (Deary et al., 1998; O'Boyle, 1995; O'Boyle & Holzer, 1992). With respect to the relationship between E and obsession-compulsion, the more usual finding is an inverse relationship, although not always reaching statistical significance (Abdel-Khalek, 1998; Deary et al. 1998; Scarrabelotti et al., 1995, Sanavio, 1998; Stanley et al., 1993; van Oppen, 1992). With regard to the relationship between P and obsession-compulsion, the data are contradictory. Studies have reported no relationship (Abdel-Khalek, 1998; O'Boyle & Holtzer, 1992; Sanavio, 1998; van Oppen, 1992), a positive relationship (Eysenck et al., 1992; O'Boyle, 1995), and even a negative relationship (Deary et al., 1998). In line with this, Scarrabelotti et al. (1995) suggested a differential contribution of psychoticism depending on the different aspects of obsessions and compulsions, thus the obsession-compulsion scale of the BSI may be measuring some aspects of the obsessive-compulsive behavior with certain psychotic features. In conclusion, the Spanish adaptation of the BSI assesses psychopathological symptoms that may be grouped into six factors that are basically related to affective or neurotic disorders, although some of them also have psychotic or psychopathic characteristics. We consider, hence, that the Spanish version of the BSI is a reliable, valid, and rapid tool for the assessment of psychopathological symptoms of depression, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, obsession-compulsion, somatization, and hostility/aggressivity, as well as being a reliable and valid measure of psychological distress in the nonclinical population. However, replication of these results and further validation studies would be required. With reference to the implications of this study in the psychopathological field, the factor solution shows that psychopathological symptoms tend to group in nonclinical population resembling certain psychological disorders. These data may suggest that psychological disorders related to the BSI factors would be better understood from a dimensional perspective (Eley & Plomin, 1997; Eysenck & Eysenck, 1985; Zuckerman, 1999). The study also shows the relevance of personality in psychopathology and in particular describes the specific personality profile in each of the underlying factors of the BSI. Thus, phobic anxiety and somatization symptoms are mainly related to neuroticism. Depressive symptoms are related to neuroticism and introversion. Paranoid ideation is related to both neuroticism and psychoticism. Hostility/aggressivity is related to neuroticism, psychoticism and extraversion. Finally, obsession-compulsion symptoms are related to neuroticism, introversion, and psychoticism. Nonetheless, psychopathology is better understood if we take into consideration three interactive factors: biology-genetics, personality, and stressful events (Zuckerman, 1999). 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Angeles Ruipérez, Department of Psychology, Jaume I University of Castelló, E12080 Castelló, Spain, Tel: +34 964 729322, Fax: +34 964 729350, Email: ruiperez@psb.uji.es.