Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Feb;44(3):567-77.
doi: 10.1017/S0033291713001104. Epub 2013 May 20.

Prospective inter-relationships between late adolescent personality and major depressive disorder in early adulthood

S Wilson  1 , A C DiRago  1 , W G Iacono  1
Affiliations

Prospective inter-relationships between late adolescent personality and major depressive disorder in early adulthood

S Wilson et al. Psychol Med. 2014 Feb.

Abstract

Background: A well-established body of literature demonstrates concurrent associations between personality traits and major depressive disorder (MDD), but there have been relatively few investigations of their dynamic interplay over time.

Method: Prospective inter-relationships between late-adolescent personality and MDD in early adulthood were examined in a community sample of male and female twins from the Minnesota Twin Family Study (MTFS; n = 1252). Participants were classified into naturally occurring MDD groups based on the timing (adolescent versus adult onset) and course (chronic/recurrent versus remitting) of MDD. MDD diagnoses were assessed at ages 17, 20, 24 and 29 years, and personality traits [negative emotionality (NEM), positive emotionality (PEM) and constraint (CON)] were assessed at ages 17, 24 and 29 years.

Results: Multilevel modeling (MLM) analyses indicated that higher age-17 NEM was associated with the subsequent development of MDD, and any MDD, regardless of onset or course, was associated with higher NEM up to age 29. Moreover, the chronic/recurrent MDD groups failed to show the normative decrease in NEM from late adolescence to early adulthood. Lower age-17 PEM was also associated with the subsequent development of MDD but only among the chronic/recurrent MDD groups. Finally, the adolescent-onset MDD groups reported lower age-17 CON relative to the never-depressed and adult-onset MDD groups.

Conclusions: Taken together, the results speak to the role of personality traits for conferring risk for the onset of MDD in late adolescence and early adulthood, in addition to the pernicious implications of chronic/recurrent MDD, particularly when it onsets during adolescence, for adaptive personality development.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean levels of personality traits by MDD group at ages 17, 24, and 29 years. A: Negative Positive Emotionality. C: Constraint.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Blonigen DM, Carlson MD, Hicks BM, Krueger RF, Iacono WG. Stability and change in personality traits from late adolescence to early adulthood: A longitudinal twin study. Journal of Personality. 2008;76:229–266. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brown TA, Chorpita BF, Barlow DH. Structural relationships among dimensions of the DSM-IV anxiety and mood disorders and dimensions of negative affect, positive affect, and autonomic arousal. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 1998;107:179–192. - PubMed
    1. Burcusa SL, Iacono WG. Risk for recurrence in depression. Clinical Psychology Review. 2007;27:959–985. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Caspi A, Roberts BW, Shiner RL. Personality development: Stability and change. Annual Review of Psychology. 2005;56:453–484. - PubMed
    1. Clark LA. Temperament as a unifying basis for personality and psychopathology. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 2005;114:505–521. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms