The relationship between interoceptive emotional awareness, neuroticism, and depression, anxiety, and stress

COVID-19 has caused challenges to daily living globally, with profound implications for negative mood. A variety of state and trait-based factors can influence how a person may respond and adapt to challenges such as a global pandemic. Personality is an area impacting how a person responds to both internal and external situations (trait) and Emotional Awareness (EA) is a facet of interoception (an awareness of the mind-body connection) that determines the way an individual interprets their physiological state of the body, and the associated emotions (state-trait). Both areas have been well researched in isolation, however the body of literature exploring the relationships between both is much smaller. It would therefore be beneficial to explore the interrelationships of both state and trait factors on wellbeing to enable a more comprehensive understanding. It was hypothesised that EA would moderate the relationship between Neuroticism and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress. Participants residing in Australia during periods of imposed lockdown were included within the study (n = 838; Ages = 18-60 years) and completed an online questionnaire battery including a variety of state and trait questionnaires. A moderation analysis was conducted to explore whether Emotional Awareness changed the relationship between neuroticism and depression, anxiety, and stress utilising an alpha of < .05. EA moderated the relationship between Neuroticism and Anxiety (p = .001, 95% CI .03-.17)), and Stress (p = .02 95% CI.01-.13), but not Depression (p = .23, 95% CI .03-.13). As Neuroticism increased, negative mood increased for all levels of EA, however those high in Neuroticism and EA displayed the highest Anxiety and Stress. Interventions to increase EA, such as mindfulness, may have adverse effects for individuals high in Neuroticism, emphasising the importance of tailored interventions and supporting the assumption that high levels of Neuroticism represent increased vulnerability during a pandemic.

A Short Measure of the Big Five Aspects: Development and Validation of the BFAS-40

We present psychometric evidence for the BFAS-40, an abbreviated measure of the Big Five Aspects Scale (DeYoung et al., 2007). In Study 1, we developed the BFAS-40 using metaheuristic algorithms and cross-validated the factor structure of the shortened measure. In Study 2, we demonstrated that the BFAS and BFAS-40 correlate with external criteria in similar ways. In Studies 3 and 4, we provide convergent validity evidence by examining correlations between the BFAS-40 and other measures of typical and clinically relevant personality. Finally, in Study 5, we provide evidence of test-retest reliability as well as additional construct validity evidence. Across these five studies, we demonstrate that the BFAS-40 is a short, reliable, and valid measure of the Big Five Aspects.

Roles of survival situation and personality temperament in the relationship between life stress and depression of higher vocational college students

BACKGROUND

Higher vocational college students face more life stress, which can easily result in depression and hinder their healthy growth. This study aimed to explore the roles of survival situation and personality temperament in the relationship between life stress and depression.

METHODS

A self-compiled "College Students' Life Stress and Mental Health Questionnaire" was used to survey 4800 students in a Chinese higher vocational college. The questionnaire consisted of five subscales: life stressors scale, stress response scale, depression scale, personality temperament types scale, and survival situations scale. The sample included 4705 students, of whom 3449 (73.30%) were males and 1256 (26.70%) were females, with 990 urban students (21.04%), 3715 rural students (78.96%). The age of the participants ranged from 17 to 33 years. The data were analyzed using SPSS v26, PROCESS v3.3, and AMOS v23.

RESULTS

(1) The depression rate of higher vocational students was 18.10% (with a severe depression rate of 1.60%). Life stress could explain 43.80% of depressive episodes (p < 0.01), (2) Among survival situations, the depression degree and rate of students in adversity were the highest (M = 1.56, 24.10%), (3) Among temperament types, the depression degree and rate of melancholic students were the highest (M = 2.13, 36.05%), (4) Survival situation and personality temperament had significant moderating interaction effects on depression caused by life stress (p < 0.01), students in adversity and depressive temperament were more susceptible, (5) Survival situations moderated three paths of the "life stressors-stress response-depression" partial mediation model, and personality temperament types moderated "stress response-depression" path.

CONCLUSION

Prosperity and sanguine temperament are protective factors of depression caused by life stress in higher vocational students. Dilemma, adversity and melancholic temperament are risk factors of depression caused by life stress in higher vocational students.

Role of personality traits in determining the association between social participation and mental health: A cross-sectional study in Japan

The role of personality in determining the association between social participation and mental health was examined by a cross-sectional study. We analyzed data from 4981 older adults aged 65-84 years who were recruited via a mail survey in one region of Japan. We defined poor mental health using a score ≤12 points on the World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index-Japanese. Personality traits were measured by 10 Item Personality Inventory-Japanese. In women, higher openness positively moderated the association between private group participation (volunteering, sports, hobby, and learning) and mental health, while higher neuroticism negatively moderated it. This study contributes to knowledge about mental health, personality, and participation. The findings provide provisional evidence about recommending private group participation for women with high openness but not those with high neuroticism.

Using passive sensor data to probe associations of social structure with changes in personality: A synthesis of network analysis and machine learning

Social network analysis (SNA) is an increasingly popular and effective tool for modeling psychological phenomena. Through application to the personality literature, social networks, in conjunction with passive, non-invasive sensing technologies, have begun to offer powerful insight into personality state variability. Resultant constructions of social networks can be utilized alongside machine learning-based frameworks to uniquely model personality states. Accordingly, this work leverages data from a previously published study to combine passively collected wearable sensor information on face-to-face, workplace social interactions with ecological momentary assessments of personality state. Data from 54 individuals across six weeks was used to explore the relative importance of 26 unique structural and nodal social network features in predicting individual changes in each of the Big Five (5F) personality states. Changes in personality state were operationalized by calculating the weekly root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) in 5F state scores measured daily via self-report. Using only SNA-derived features from wearable sensor data, boosted tree-based machine learning models explained, on average, approximately 28-30% of the variance in individual personality state change. Model introspection implicated egocentric features as the most influential predictors across 5F-specific models, with network efficiency, constraint, and effective size measures among the most important. Feature importance profiles for each 5F model partially echoed previous empirical findings. Results support future efforts focusing on egocentric components of SNA and suggest particular investment in exploring efficiency measures to model personality fluctuations within the workplace setting.

An ecological animal model of subthreshold depression in adolescence: behavioral and resting state 18F-FDG PET imaging characterization

The different depressive disorders that exist can take root at adolescence. For instance, some functional and structural changes in several brain regions have been observed from adolescence in subjects that display either high vulnerability to depressive symptoms or subthreshold depression. For instance, adolescents with depressive disorder have been shown to exhibit hyperactivity in hippocampus, amygdala and prefrontal cortex as well as volume reductions in hippocampus and amygdala (prefrontal cortex showing more variable results). However, no animal model of adolescent subthreshold depression has been developed so far. Our objective was to design an animal model of adolescent subthreshold depression and to characterize the neural changes associated to this phenotype. For this purpose, we used adolescent Swiss mice that were evaluated on 4 tests assessing cognitive abilities (Morris water maze), anhedonia (sucrose preference), anxiety (open-field) and stress-coping strategies (forced swim test) at postnatal day (PND) 28-35. In order to identify neural alterations associated to behavioral profiles, we assessed brain resting state metabolic activity in vivo using ¹⁸F-FDG PET imaging at PND 37. We selected three profiles of mice distinguished in a composite Z-score computed from performances in the behavioral tests: High, Intermediate and Low Depressive Risk (HDR, IDR and LDR). Compared to both IDR and LDR, HDR mice were characterized by passive stress-coping behaviors, low cognition and high anhedonia and anxiety and were associated with significant changes of ¹⁸F-FDG uptakes in several cortical and subcortical areas including prelimbic cortex, infralimbic cortex, nucleus accumbens, amygdala, periaqueductal gray and superior colliculus, all displaying higher metabolic activity, while only the thalamus was associated with lower metabolic activity (compared to IDR). LDR displayed an opposing behavioral phenotype and were associated with significant changes of ¹⁸F-FDG uptakes in the dorsal striatum and thalamus that both exhibited markedly lower metabolic activity in LDR. In conclusion, our study revealed changes in metabolic activities that can represent neural signatures for behavioral profiles predicting subthreshold depression at adolescence in a mouse model.

Anxious Personality Traits: Perspectives from Basic Emotions and Neurotransmitters

Objective: Recently, many emotional diseases, such as anxiety and depression, have prevailed, and it is expected that emotional disease will be the leading cause of social and economic burden in 2030. These emotional diseases may be due to certain personality traits, which could be the reasons for the development of mental illness. Personality theories have been constantly developed over the past hundreds of years, and different dimensions of personality traits corresponding to different physiological bases and emotional feelings have been proposed. However, personality may be the least studied area in psychology. Methods: In this paper, we will give a short review on the development of personality theories as well as dimensional emotional theory. Then, we will compare the similarities between the emotional dimension and personality dimension. Furthermore, we will also investigate the neural mechanisms of personality and emotions, focusing on neuromodulators for anxiety-related personality traits, in order to provide a clear relationship between different neurotransmitters and anxiety-related personality traits. Results: The results of our study suggest that the emotional dimension and personality dimension may be somewhat related, for example, the extrovert/introvert dimension of personality might be related to the hedonic dimension, which includes happiness/sadness, and the neurotic dimensions might be related to emotional arousal. In addition, our study found that personality traits are also related to basic emotions, for instance, people who are too self-centered are prone to feeling a mood of disgust or depression, while anger and fear correspond to unstable personality traits. The analysis suggested that the neural substrates of both personality and emotions might be described as follows: extroverted–joy–dopamine (DA); introverted–disgust–5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT); unstable (neuroticism)–anger/fear–noradrenaline (NE); stable–calmness. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that there is a correlation between personality traits and emotions, and both depend on monoamine neurotransmitters (dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin). In addition, personality disorders can be interfered via the regulation of emotions and neurotransmitters. This paper opens up a whole new perspective for future research on personality traits and emotional diseases and has great clinical value and practical significance.

Associations among neuroticism, self-efficacy, resilience and psychological distress in freshman nursing students: a cross-sectional study in China

OBJECTIVES

The current study examines the mediating roles of resilience and self-efficacy and the moderating role of gender in the association between neuroticism and psychological distress in Chinese freshman nursing students (FNSs).

METHODS

A total of 1220 FNSs were enrolled from the Be Resilient to Nursing Career (ChiCTR2000038693) Programme and the following instruments were administered to them: NEO Five-Factor Inventory, General Self-Efficacy Scale, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale. A moderated mediation analysis and a generalised additive model analysis were performed.

RESULTS

The direct and indirect effects of neuroticism on psychological distress were significantly mediated by self-efficacy (B = 0.200, 95% CI 0.001 to 0.039), resilience (B = 0.021, 95% CI 0.007 to 0.038) and the interaction between self-efficacy and resilience (B = 0.016, 95% CI 0.005 to 0.028). The interactions between neuroticism and gender (β = 0.102, 95% CI 0.001 to 0.203, p<0.05) and between resilience and gender were significant (β = 0.160, 95% CI 0.045 to 0.275, p<0.01). A non-linear and positive association was confirmed between neuroticism and psychological distress.

CONCLUSIONS

Self-efficacy and resilience significantly mediate the relationship between neuroticism and psychological distress. Gender moderates the relationships between neuroticism and resilience and between resilience and psychological distress.

Profiling Hoarding Within the Five-Factor Model of Personality and Self-Determination Theory

This study investigated the dispositional profile associated with hoarding symptoms by applying a personality and motivational trait perspective. A community sample oversampling high hoarding symptoms (N = 649, ages 18-74 years) completed an online questionnaire assessing hoarding, the five-factor model of personality, and general causality orientations drawn from self-determination theory. Personality aspects (10 traits), a level of measurement intermediate to factors (5 traits) and facets (30 traits), were assessed to provide greater specificity than a factor-level approach. Hoarding was correlated with neuroticism and conscientiousness. Aspects predicting hoarding were industriousness (C), orderliness (C), withdrawal (N), and assertiveness (E). Hoarding was significantly related to impersonal and control orientations, albeit with only slight (1.4%) incremental validity for general causality orientations above personality aspects in predicting hoarding. These findings may not generalize to a clinical treatment sample, and possible configurative interactions between traits were not assessed. This study extended the existing literature by reporting aspect-level personality and general causality orientation correlates of hoarding. These data may inform preventative monitoring and intervention programs, as well as predicting meaningful personality characteristics of hoarding clients.

The diagnostic and predictive potential of personality traits and coping styles in major depressive disorder

BACKGROUND

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a global public health concern that is notably underdiagnosed and undertreated due to its complexity and subjective diagnostic methods. A holistic diagnostic procedure, which sufficiently considers all possible contributors to MDD symptoms, would improve MDD diagnosis and treatment. This study aims to explore whether personality and coping styles can predict MDD status and differentiate between depressed patients and healthy individuals.

METHODS

Seventy healthy controls (N = 54 females) were matched to 70 MDD patients for age, sex, ethnicity, and years of education. MDD severity was measured using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, while personality traits and coping styles were measured by the Ten-Item Personality (TIPI) and Brief COPE questionnaires, respectively. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to investigate the diagnostic and predictive potential of personality and coping styles. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were also conducted to examine their discriminative ability to distinguish between depressed and healthy individuals.

RESULTS

Introversion, lack of organisation skills, and neuroticism were statistically significant in predicting MDD status. Dysfunctional coping strategies, such as denial and self-blame, were also shown to significantly predict MDD status. ROC analyses found both the TIPI questionnaire (AUC = 0.90), and dysfunctional coping (as measured by Brief COPE) (AUC = 0.90) to be excellent predictors of MDD.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings demonstrate the diagnostic and predictive potential of personality and coping styles for MDD in the clinical setting. They also demonstrate the remarkable ability of personality and coping styles to differentiate between depressed patients and healthy controls.

Inflammation and Cognition in Depression: A Narrative Review

The authors aim to present a narrative review of research on the inflammatory aetiology of depression. Depression is a psychiatric disorder, constituting the most common reason of disability due to a health condition. It has been estimated that at least one in six people suffer from depression at some point of their lives. The aetiology of depression, although researched extensively all around the world, still remains unclear. Authors discuss the possible role of inflammation in depression, the neurodevelopmental theory of depression as well as associations between cognition and depression. Possible associations between memory dysfunction among depressive patients and inflammatory markers are included. The associations between the immune system, depression and cognition are observed. Possible mediating factors between these areas include personality traits, hormonal imbalance and functioning of the brain areas. The question as to what mediating factors are involved is still open to research.

Associations between Facets and Aspects of Big Five Personality and Affective Disorders:A Systematic Review and Best Evidence Synthesis

BACKGROUND

Big Five personality traits correlate with affective disorders, with neuroticism considered a risk factor, and conscientiousness and extroversion considered protective factors. However, the relationships between affective disorders and lower-order personality facets and aspects are less clear.

METHOD

A systematic review was carried out to identify studies measuring associations between lower-order personality constructs and affective disorders. Big Five facets were measured using the NEO-PI-R, and aspects using the BFAS. PsycINFO, EMBASE, MedLine and OpenGrey were searched from January 1^st, 1985 to June 30^th, 2020. Fifteen studies met criteria and reported a total of 408 associations. Data were analysed using best evidence synthesis.

RESULTS

Most facets of neuroticism were positively associated with affective disorders. Positive emotion in extroversion, and competence and self-discipline in conscientiousness, were negatively associated with affective disorders. Trust in agreeableness, and actions in openness, were negatively associated with anxiety disorders, whereas fantasy in openness was positively associated with anxiety disorders. At the aspect level, withdrawal in neuroticism was positively associated with MDD, whereas industriousness in conscientiousness was negatively associated with MDD.

LIMITATIONS

Due to the use the heterogenous measures between studies, a meta-analysis could not be performed. Only Big Five personality constructs were investigated, limited to BFAS personality aspects, and NEO-PI-R personality facets.

CONCLUSIONS

Neuroticism, positive emotion, competence and self-discipline correlate with various anxiety and depressive disorders. These facets may be endophenotypes for affective disorders in general. Future research is needed to investigate mediating pathways between personality facets and affective disorders.

Personality Profiles and Personal Factors Associated with Psychological Distress in Chinese Nurses

BACKGROUND

A high prevalence of psychological distress is observed in nurses due to multiple occupational stressors. Personality traits and personal factors are important factors that lead to psychological distress. The personality profile reflects a combination of personality traits; however, the relationship between personality profiles and personal factors that affect psychological distress among nurses has not been defined.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted in November 2020 in China. Convenience and snowball sampling were used to recruit participants. Latent profile analysis was used to identify personality profiles of nurses based on the big-five personality traits. Single-factor analysis and multivariate logistic regression were used to determine the factors affecting psychological distress. The structural equation model was used to verify the hypothetical model linking personality profiles, self-efficacy, psychological resilience, and coping style with psychological distress.

RESULTS

A total of 953 Chinese nurses (934 female) with a mean (S.D.) age of 32.8 (8.6) years were recruited. Personality profiles identified were negative, normative, and positive. A personality profile may predict psychological distress directly and indirectly through self-efficacy, psychological resilience, and coping style.

LIMITATIONS

No complex sampling limits the representativeness of Chinese nurses. External factors affecting psychological distress were not investigated.

CONCLUSION

Nurses with anegative personality profile had a higher prevalence of psychological distress. This study establishes the importance of personality profile assessment to identify nurses at higher risk of psychological distress. It suggests that interventions should be based on self-efficacy, psychological resilience, and coping style as potential management strategies.

PID-5 Trait Indicators of Emotional Instability and Childhood Adversity Antecedents

Personality traits provide natural mechanisms through which childhood maltreatment may translate into psychiatric symptomatology. The PID-5 has provided a DSM-supported exemplar for canvassing traits that may contribute to the developmental trajectories of many personality and mood disorders. This general population survey (N = 2,430) examined associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACE questionnaire) and selected PID-5 trait indicators of emotional well-being (Depressivity, Anxiousness, and Emotional Lability). These associations were contrasted with others derived from traditional dimensional measures of childhood maltreatment. ACE counts and all six of the dimensional maltreatment indicators were linked to the three trait scores. Family emotional abuse and ACE counts provided equally strong correlates of Depressivity and Anxiousness. ACE counts and childhood sexual abuse were especially strong in their associations with all three traits. Graded relationships were found in these trait-adversity relationships with polyvictimized respondents generating the highest personality maladjustment. The odds of a trait score elevation (>1 SD) were raised substantially (two to five fold) by singular adversity exposures, and the co-occurrence of only two different forms of adversity maximized odds of extreme trait expression. These results contribute to an evidentiary base suggesting steeper developmental trajectories for personality maladjustment among maltreated youth.

Who complies with COVID-19 transmission mitigation behavioral guidelines?

During the past 6 months, the world has lost almost 950,000 lives because of the outbreak of COVID-19, with more than 31 million individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 worldwide. In response, lockdowns, and various other policies have been implemented. Unfortunately, many individuals are violating those policies and governments have been urging people to comply with the behavioral guidelines. In this paper, we argue that personality traits need to be considered to understand and encourage more effective public compliance with COVID 19 transmission mitigation behavioral guidelines. Using a sample of 8,548 individuals from Japan, we show that certain personality traits are related to the tendency to comply with COVID-19 transmission mitigation behavioral guidelines. We emphasize the importance of understanding why people respond differently to the same authority's messages and provide actionable insights for government policy makers and those who implement policies.

Depressive symptomatology and personality traits in patients with symptomatic and asymptomatic peripheral arterial disease

Background

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship of depressive symptomatology and personality traits with peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

Methods

The sample of this cross-sectional study comprised of 300 individuals (M_age = 65.3 ± 8.7 years, 61.0% female) recruited from the offices of 33 general practitioners. Based on at-rest ankle-brachial index (ABI) values and claudication symptoms, four subsamples were formed: clear PAD-positive, clear PAD-negative, ABI-negative but symptomatic, and a non-compressible-artery group. The concurrent role of depression (assessed by a shortened version of the Beck Depression Inventory) and personality traits (measured by the Big Five Inventory) in predicting PAD status was examined using multinomial logistic regression – controlled for sex, age, hypertonia, diabetes, smoking, hazardous drinking, and body mass index.

Results

Depressive symptomatology was significant in predicting peripheral arterial disease status even after controlling for both traditional risk factors and personality traits. Among the Big Five personality traits, neuroticism showed a significant, positive relationship with PAD – independently of depression.

Conclusions

Patients with PAD – even those with asymptomatic forms of the disease – are at higher risk for suffering from depression compared to individuals without PAD, independently of neuroticism, other Big Five personality dimensions or traditional risk factors for cardiovascular diseases.

How interindividual differences shape approach-avoidance behavior: Relating self-report and diagnostic measures of interindividual differences to behavioral measurements of approach and avoidance

Responding to stimuli in ambiguous environments is partially governed by approach-avoidance tendencies. Imbalances in these approach-avoidance behaviors are implicated in many mental disorders including anxiety disorders, phobias and substance use disorders. While factors biasing human behavior in approach-avoidance conflicts have been researched in numerous experiments, a much-needed comprehensive overview integrating those findings is missing. Here, we systematically searched the existing literature on individual differences in task-based approach-avoidance behavior and aggregated the current evidence for the effect of self-reported approach/avoidance traits, anxiety and anxiety disorders, specific phobias, depression, aggression, anger and psychopathy, substance use and related disorders, eating disorders and habits, trauma, acute stress and, finally, hormone levels (mainly testosterone, oxytocin). We highlight consistent findings, underrepresented research areas and unexpected results, and detail the amount of controversy between studies. We discuss potential reasons for ambiguous results in some research areas, offer practical advice for future studies and highlight potential variables such as task-related researcher decisions that may influence how interindividual differences and disorders drive automatic approach-avoidance biases in behavioral experiments.

Depression and disclosure behavior via social media: A study of university students in China

Severe stress and depression constitute serious challenges to people in both personal and public health. Numerous university students suffer from depression each year while only fractions of them receive proper and competent treatments. Following the trends of the era, social media has been prevalent among university students and become a new platform to disclose depression references. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of various stressors and the “Big Five” personality traits towards the intention of disclosing depression. Addition to the disclosure intention, this study also explores if respondents have presented their depression via social media profiles. Over 200 WeChat users were surveyed on their experiences from psychological stress factors under four categories - academy, relationship and practical issues.

Personality traits across the psychosis spectrum: A Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology conceptualization of clinical symptomatology

Psychotic disorders have varied clinical presentations, diagnostic stability is poor and other mental disorders often co-occur with the conditions. To improve the clinical and pathophysiological utility of classification systems for psychosis, it is necessary to consider how symptoms may reflect dimensions of psychopathology that extend beyond the boundaries of traditional diagnostic classifications. We examined personality deviation as a means for explaining symptom variation across individuals with serious mental illness. Participants (N = 312) with psychosis, first-degree biological relatives and healthy controls underwent comprehensive clinical evaluations that included symptom ratings and Diagnostic Statistical Manual consensus diagnoses. They completed the Personality Inventory for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (PID-5), which provides multidimensional assessment of personality disturbances and characterizes psychosis-relevant phenomena, and the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), a widely accepted measure of schizotypal traits. PID-5 was comparable with SPQ in differentiating between participants with and without psychosis. Greater psychotic symptomatology and higher scores on the SPQ Cognitive-perceptual dimension were associated with higher scores on PID-5 Psychoticism. Facet-level traits showed diverse associations with existing clinical syndromes, suggesting they have utility for quantifying separable symptom dimensions that cut across existing disorders. Yet the patient groups were similar across four of the five PID-5 personality trait domains, indicating shared patterns of personality expression that challenge existing categorical delineations. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Neuroticism-Withdrawal and Neuroticism-Volatility Differently Influence the Risk of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Alzheimer's Disease

BACKGROUND

Neuroticism is recognized as the personality domain that is most strongly associated with behavioral and psychological symptoms (BPS) of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Two sub-components of neuroticism have been recently isolated. Neuroticism-withdrawal (N-withdrawal) refers to the tendency to internalize negative emotion, whereas neuroticism-volatility (N-volatility) reflect the predisposition to externalize negative emotions.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the current study was to investigate the specific influence of these two sub-components of neuroticism on BPS.

METHODS

One hundred eighty-seven patients with prodromal or mild AD were drawn from the PACO study (Personalité Alzheimer COmportement). Neuroticism and its facets were assessed at baseline using the NEO-PI-R inventory. N-withdrawal and N-volatility were isolated using a principal component analysis led on the six facets composing neuroticism. BPS were measured with the short version of Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI-Q) and collected at baseline, then every 6 months over an 18-month follow-up. Linear mixed-effect analyses were conducted to investigate the association between N-withdrawal, N-volatility, and the severity of BPS over the follow-up.

RESULTS

Mean age of the participant was 79.2±6.5; 59% were female; mean MMSE was 24.5±2.5. Both N-volatility and N-withdrawal were related with the NPI-Q (p < 0.001; p = 0,004). N-withdrawal was positively associated with anxiety (p = 0.001) and depression (p = 0.002), while N-volatility was positively related to delusions (p = 0.004), agitation/aggression (p < 0.001), irritability/volatility (p = 0.037), and apathy (p = 0.021).

CONCLUSION

The present study demonstrates that N-volatility and N-withdrawal influence the risk of developing BPS in a different way. These results highlight the relevance of considering sub-components of neuroticism when studying links between personality and BPS.

Putting adversity in perspective: purpose in life moderates the link between childhood emotional abuse and neglect and adulthood depressive symptoms

Background: Childhood emotional abuse and neglect is linked with a host of adverse outcomes later in life, including depression. However, potential psychological resources that may mitigate the adverse outcomes of childhood emotional abuse and neglect are not well-understood.Aims: Drawing from the insight that having a sense of purpose can help individuals deal with setbacks and difficulties better, we propose that purpose in life can also help sufferers of childhood maltreatment cope more effectively and reduce the onset of depressive symptoms.Methods: Participants were drawn from two large, nationally representative studies comprising a total of 3664 respondents. Purpose in life, childhood emotional abuse and neglect, and depressive symptoms were measured with validated scales.Results: We found convergent evidence that purpose in life attenuates the effect of childhood emotional abuse and neglect on subsequent depressive symptoms across a range of measures of mood and depression.Conclusions: The current study highlights the important role played by purpose in life in building resilience, coping against adverse life events, and psychological well-being.

Linking personality types to depressive symptoms: A prospective typology based on neuroticism, extraversion and conscientiousness

From a traditional variable-centered perspective, the personality traits specifically linked to depressive symptoms are neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness (NEC). Few studies have considered the interactive effects of personality traits within individuals from the taxonomic perspective. We explored novel NEC personality subtypes in general and subthreshold depressive subjects by using graph-based classification algorithms and multiple external validators. Personality and depressive symptoms were assessed in 1055 healthy subjects (150 with subthreshold depression) using the NEO-PI-R and BDI at baseline. NEC personality data were used to identify subtypes in healthy and subthreshold depressive samples, and external validators, including current and longitudinal depressive symptoms and seven subcortical gray matter volumes, were examined. Four novel NEC personality types in the general sample showed superior current and longitudinal behavioral validation of depressive symptoms as well as some discrimination in biological indicators (putamen, nucleus accumbens, and amygdala). Four profiles defined in subthreshold depression selectively exhibited meaningful differences in longitudinal depressive symptoms. In both samples, some types adhere to the principles previously described NEC three-way interaction. The resulting typology, especially the four types in the general population, linked depressive symptoms provided a superior description of within-person organization of neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness.

A Hierarchical Integration of Normal and Abnormal Personality Dimensions: Structure and Predictive Validity in a Heterogeneous Sample of Psychiatric Outpatients

Hierarchical, quantitative models of psychopathology focus primarily on higher-order constructs, whereas less is known about the structure and content comprising lower-order dimensions of psychopathology. Here, we address this gap in the literature by using targeted factor analysis to integrate the 25 maladaptive facet-level traits of the Personality Inventory for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder-Fifth edition and the 10 aspect-level traits of the normal personality hierarchy within a sample of 198 psychiatric outpatients. A 10-factor solution replicated previous work, with each of the 10 aspects primarily characterizing only one factor. In addition, the 10 factors differentially predicted a range of diagnoses, including alcohol use disorder, major depression, panic disorder, social anxiety, and borderline and avoidant personality disorders. Our results suggest that research on the development, causes, and structure of lower-order traits within the normal personality hierarchy may serve as an important guide to research on the causes and structure of maladaptive personality.

Personality Disorders as Emergent Interpersonal Syndromes: Psychopathic Personality as a Case Example

Personality disorders have long been bedeviled by a host of conceptual and methodological quandaries. Starting from the assumption that personality disorders are inherently interpersonal conditions that reflect folk concepts of social impairment, the authors contend that a subset of personality disorders, rather than traditional syndromes, are emergent interpersonal syndromes (EISs): interpersonally malignant configurations (statistical interactions) of distinct personality dimensions that may be only modestly, weakly, or even negatively correlated. Preliminary support for this perspective derives from a surprising source, namely, largely forgotten research on the intercorrelations among the subscales of select MMPI/MMPI-2 clinical scales. Using psychopathic personality as a case example, the authors offer provisional evidence for the EIS hypothesis from four lines of research and delineate its implications for personality disorder theory, research, and classification. Conceptualizing some personality disorders as EISs elucidates long-standing quandaries and controversies in the psychopathology literature and affords fruitful avenues for future investigation.

Early change in reward and punishment sensitivity as a predictor of response to antidepressant treatment for major depressive disorder: a CAN-BIND-1 report

BACKGROUND

In an effort to optimize patient outcomes, considerable attention is being devoted to identifying patient characteristics associated with major depressive disorder (MDD) and its responsiveness to treatment. In the current study, we extend this work by evaluating whether early change in these sensitivities is associated with response to antidepressant treatment for MDD.

METHODS

Participants included 210 patients with MDD who were treated with 8 weeks of escitalopram and 112 healthy comparison participants. Of the original 210 patients, 90 non-responders received adjunctive aripiprazole for an additional 8 weeks. Symptoms of depression and anhedonia were assessed at the beginning of treatment and 8 weeks later in both samples. Reward and punishment sensitivity were assessed using the BIS/BAS scales measured at the initiation of treatment and 2 weeks later.

RESULTS

Individuals with MDD exhibited higher punishment sensitivity and lower reward sensitivity compared with healthy comparison participants. Change in reward sensitivity during the first 2 weeks of treatment was associated with improved depressive symptoms and anhedonia following 8 weeks of treatment with escitalopram. Similarly, improvement in reward responsiveness during the first 2 weeks of adjunctive therapy with aripiprazole was associated with fewer symptoms of depression at post-treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings highlight the predictive utility of early change in reward sensitivity during antidepressant treatment for major depression. In a clinical setting, a lack of change in early reward processing may signal a need to modify a patient's treatment plan with alternative or augmented treatment approaches.

Personality Trait Interactions in Risk for and Protection against Social Anxiety Symptoms

Previous attempts to identify personality traits that enhance inclination to social anxiety (SA) have been limited by a tendency to focus on selected traits in isolation, rather than examining their interactions. Additional research is needed to better understand whether and how these dimensions are linked to SA. In a prospective study, it was examined how interactions between the Big Five personality factors predict SA symptoms. A total of 135 individuals, aged 18-50 years, were recruited. Personality traits were measured at baseline, and SA symptoms were assessed one month later. Results showed that low emotional stability was an independent predictor of higher levels of SA. Additionally, two significant interactions emerged: the interactions between extraversion and openness, and between openness and agreeableness predicted SA symptoms. At high openness, higher extraversion was associated with significantly lower levels of SA, suggesting that the interaction provides incrementally greater protection against SA. Thus, extraverts are likely to be protected against social anxiety symptoms, but more so the more open they are. Moreover, at high levels of agreeableness, low openness has been shown to be uniquely predictive for higher levels of SA symptoms, indicating that the combined effect of openness with agreeableness may be more important to SA than either trait in isolation. These findings highlight the importance of testing interaction effects of personality traits on psychopathology.

Personality associated with depressive status in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Objective: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with a high prevalence of depression, and depression is influenced by personality traits; however, these psychological factors have not been well studied in individuals with T2DM. The association between the use of a 5-factor model of personality and depressive symptoms was examined in individuals with T2DM. Methods: The subjects were 435 T2DM patients (mean age 63.1±12.6 years). Depressive status and personality traits were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and the Ten-Item Personality Inventory, Japanese version, respectively. Lifestyle factors and glycated hemoglobin A1c levels in the patients were also included in the analyses. Results: Among the 435 subjects with T2DM, 130 (29.9%) exhibited possible depression, and 68 (15.6%) exhibited probable depression. After adjustment for confounders, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism were found to be significantly associated with the presence of depression. No relationships were found between depression and HbA1c. Conclusion: These findings indicate that Extraversion and Agreeableness are protective factors, and Neuroticism is a risk factor for depression in T2DM patients. Psychological therapy focusing on personality may reduce depressive symptoms. Additional studies are needed to examine the relationships between psychological factors and depressive symptoms using a longitudinal study design.