Personality traits have been suggested to play a role in susceptibility to depression among individuals with a family history of the condition who have been exposed to adverse life events. Dr Anne Farmer and colleagues from the Institute of Psychiatry in London and the University of Wales investigated whether the traits of neuroticism or extraversion influence the onset of depression.
The researchers identified 108 individuals with depression and 105 healthy control subjects to take part in the study. The siblings of all participants were also assessed. Neuroticism and extraversion subscales of the Eysenck Personality Inventory were used to evaluate the presence of these traits.
Participants were interviewed using the Schedule for the Clinical Assessment of Neuropsychiatry and the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule. Dr Farmer and colleagues found a familial correlation between neuroticism and extraversion, and these measures were found to reflect mood and life events. However, measures of both traits were similar across the non-depressed siblings of cases and those of control subjects. Current mood was found to have the greatest impact on levels of neuroticism, although age, sex, previous depression and a family history of the disease were also seen as contributory factors.
The researchers concluded that vulnerability to depression is not associated with either neuroticism or extraversion and that levels of depression are predominantly linked to current depressive symptoms.
Reference: Farmer et al, The British Journal of Psychiatry 2002;181:118-122
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