6533b837fe1ef96bd12a3365
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Personality traits in subjects at risk for unipolar major depression: A family study perspective
Jürgen MingesWolfgang MaierDirk LichtermannR. Heunsubject
AdultMalemedicine.medical_specialtyBipolar DisorderPersonality InventoryPsychometricsmedia_common.quotation_subjectSex FactorsChild of Impaired ParentsRecurrenceRisk Factorsmental disordersmedicineHumansPersonalityBipolar disorderPersonality testBig Five personality traitsPsychiatrymedia_commonDepressive DisorderExtraversion and introversionMiddle Agedmedicine.diseaseNeuroticismAlcoholismPsychiatry and Mental healthClinical PsychologyPhobic DisordersPanic DisorderFemalePersonality Assessment InventoryPsychologyPersonalitydescription
Particular patterns of personality (e.g., introversion, neuroticism, obsessionality) have been found to be associated with unipolar depression by a large number of investigators; recent prospective studies have stressed neuroticism as a premorbid risk factor for depression. This study examines whether similar patterns of personality are found in relatives of affective disorder patients and of controls. First-degree relatives of normal controls and of subjects with primary unipolar depression were studied using the Munich Personality Test. Relatives in remission from an episode of unipolar depression had clearly higher levels of neuroticism and rigidity and lower levels of extraversion than controls; healthy relatives of controls had higher levels of rigidity (both sexes) and of neuroticism (males only) than controls. It is proposed that these traits are either risk factors for depression or attenuated forms of depression.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992-03-01 | Journal of Affective Disorders |