The impact of personality traits on daily functioning: A study on a group of help-seeking young adults

Introduction: Functional impairment is a common issue among patients with mental health disorders and first-episode psychosis who seek assistance from public mental health services designed for early intervention. These services often provide brief psychotherapeutic treatments to enhance social and professional functioning. However, the effectiveness of these brief interventions varies. Identifying risk factors for mental disorders, such as specific personality traits, could inform the development of more effective early intervention strategies. This study aims to identify significant personality traits as predictors of social and occupational functioning among help-seeking young adults at ASST Ovest Milanese public mental health services in Northern Italy. Methods: Data were collected from 229 participants (82 males, 147 females) aged 18–27 (M = 24.13; SD = 2.21). Participants completed a socio-demographic questionnaire, the Personality Inventory for DSM-5, and the Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale. Regression models, Random Forest, and Gradient Boosting Machines were conducted. Results: The regression model with Detachment as the only predictor provided the best fit, indicating that higher levels of Detachment are significantly associated with lower social and occupational functioning (MSE = 112.38, adjusted R2 = 0.1188, p < 0.001). Including Negative Affectivity and Disinhibition in the model did not improve predictive power and introduced overfitting. Additionally, some socio-demographic factors were positively associated with better functioning. Conclusion: Detachment is a primary predictor of social and occupational impairment. Interventions should prioritize addressing detachment-related traits and integrate educational and vocational support to enhance functioning. Implementing individualized therapies based on these risk factors could improve mental health outcomes and reduce costs for public clinical facilities.