Associations between hallucinations and personality structure in a non-clinical sample: Comparison between young and elderly samples

Few studies have explored the prevalence of hallucinations in the non-clinical, elderly population. Also, the association between personality structure and hallucinations remains poorly investigated. The aims of the present study were twofold. First, to explore the influence of age on the prevalence of hallucination-proneness, and second, to examine the association between personality and hallucination-proneness in young and elderly subjects. A sample of young (n = 230) and elderly adults (n = 183) completed an elaborated and validated version of the Launay-Slade Hallucinations Scale (LSHS; Larøi, Marczewski, & Van der Linden, 2004) and the Five Factor Inventory version of the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-FFI; Costa, & McCrae, 1992). Differences were found between elderly and young subjects depending on the type of hallucination. Analyses of associations between personality domains and hallucination-proneness revealed differing associations for the young and elderly groups. For the young sample, there were significant associations between LSHS-scores and Openness to Experience and Neuroticism domains. For elderly subjects, only the Openness to Experience domain was significantly associated with LSHS-scores. Furthermore, in the young sample, Neuroticism was significantly associated with the presence of both auditory hallucinations and vivid daydreaming.