TY - JOUR
T1 - A longitudinal study of personality traits, anxiety, and depressive disorders in young adults
AU - Prince, Elizabeth J.
AU - Siegel, Daniel J.
AU - Carroll, C. Patrick
AU - Sher, Kenneth J.
AU - Bienvenu, O. Joseph
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Background: How personality traits, anxiety, and depressive disorders relate longitudinally has implications for etiologic research and prevention. We sought to determine how neuroticism and extraversion relate to first-onset anxiety and depressive disorders in young adults. Design: An inception cohort of 489 university freshmen was followed for 6 years. Method: Participants self-reported personality traits using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Anxiety and depressive disorders were assessed using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule. Results: Baseline neuroticism predicted first-onset panic disorder, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and major depressive disorder (MDD), while introversion predicted first-onset agoraphobia (moderate–large effects). Participants who developed panic disorder, agoraphobia, GAD, or MDD had increases in neuroticism if the disorder was current at follow-up (moderate–large effects). Participants who developed MDD but were in remission by follow-up had a moderate increase in neuroticism. Conclusions: High neuroticism in young adulthood is either a true risk factor, or marker of risk, for first-onset anxiety and depressive disorders, as is low extraversion for agoraphobia. The current data suggest large neuroticism “state” effects for panic disorder, agoraphobia, and MDD, and moderate “scar” effects from MDD. Though many clinicians and researchers regard personality traits simply as “vulnerability” factors, longitudinal analyses suggest additional complexity.
AB - Background: How personality traits, anxiety, and depressive disorders relate longitudinally has implications for etiologic research and prevention. We sought to determine how neuroticism and extraversion relate to first-onset anxiety and depressive disorders in young adults. Design: An inception cohort of 489 university freshmen was followed for 6 years. Method: Participants self-reported personality traits using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Anxiety and depressive disorders were assessed using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule. Results: Baseline neuroticism predicted first-onset panic disorder, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and major depressive disorder (MDD), while introversion predicted first-onset agoraphobia (moderate–large effects). Participants who developed panic disorder, agoraphobia, GAD, or MDD had increases in neuroticism if the disorder was current at follow-up (moderate–large effects). Participants who developed MDD but were in remission by follow-up had a moderate increase in neuroticism. Conclusions: High neuroticism in young adulthood is either a true risk factor, or marker of risk, for first-onset anxiety and depressive disorders, as is low extraversion for agoraphobia. The current data suggest large neuroticism “state” effects for panic disorder, agoraphobia, and MDD, and moderate “scar” effects from MDD. Though many clinicians and researchers regard personality traits simply as “vulnerability” factors, longitudinal analyses suggest additional complexity.
KW - Longitudinal study
KW - agoraphobia
KW - anxiety disorders
KW - major depressive disorder
KW - panic disorder
KW - personality
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85096148943&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85096148943&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/10615806.2020.1845431
DO - 10.1080/10615806.2020.1845431
M3 - Article
C2 - 33190525
AN - SCOPUS:85096148943
JO - Anxiety, Stress and Coping
JF - Anxiety, Stress and Coping
SN - 1061-5806
ER -