Additive and Synergetic Contributions of Neuroticism and Life Events to Depression and Anxiety in Women

Abstract

In this genetically informative and longitudinal study of women, we investigated the nature of individual differences in tendencies to depression (TD) and anxiety (TA) as well as in the probability to develop unipolar mood disorders (UMDs), anxiety disorders (ADs) or both. Specifically, we examined the roles of neuroticism, negative and positive life events and their interplay as heritable and environmental factors of variance in TD and TA. Crosssectional data from a total of 1200 women including 232 patients (suffering from UMDs and/or ADs) and longitudinal data from 630 female twins including 260 complete pairs were analysed. The analyses yielded that variance in neuroticism mediated the vast majority of the genetic variance in both TD (about 85-90%) and TA (about 70-75%). Negative life events additionally contributed as risk factors accounting for common and specific environmental variance in both TD and TA, whereas positive life events only acted as protective factors in the case of TD. Moreover, TD but not TA was associated with both the probability of exposure and the sensitivity to negative life events and a negative life-event balance (i.e. more negative than positive experiences). The results were discussed within the framework of additive, dynamic and synergetic diathesis-stress models.

Sound Body, Sound Mind? The Interrelation between Health Change and Personality Change in Old Age

“…The positive association between SHP and neuroticism, visible in moderate initial and change correlations, is also not surprising because more neurotic (i.e. more depressive and anxious) people see the world, their lives and their experiences in a more negative light (Kandler & Ostendorf, ). Moreover, previous research suggests that neuroticism is more strongly related to subjective health measures and symptom reporting, whereas its relation to objective health is less clear (Israel et al, ; Jokela et al, , but see Wettstein et al, ).…”

Toward an Integrative Model of Sources of Personality Stability and Change

“…Second, given that a person's genetic sensitivity drives individual exposure and reactions to life experiences, future studies need to model this sensitivity. In an exemplary study accounting for gene-environment interplay, Kandler and Ostendorf (2016) found that genetic differences in proneness to depression among women were primarily mediated by individual differences in neuroticism and that a negative life-event balance (i.e., accumulation of negative experiences and absence of positive experiences) increased the risk of depression for women with a high level of neuroticism but not for emotionally stable women.…”

“…An innovative study design to disentangle diverse sources on personality stability and change. Kandler, C., & Ostendorf, F. (2016). (See References).…”

Dispositional negativity, cognition, and anxiety disorders: An integrative translational neuroscience framework

“…Dispositional negativity is stable, but not immutable, and can change in response to experience. Like anxiety disorders and depression, dispositional negativity is amplified by exposure to stressors, trauma, and negative life events (Allen & Walter, 2018; Barlow et al, 2017; Bateson, Brilot, & Nettle, 2011; Bentley et al, 2017; Kandler & Ostendorf, 2016; Kornadt, Hagemeyer, Neyer, & Kandler, 2018; Milojev, Osbourne, & Sibley, 2014; Mueller, Wagner, Smith, Voelkle, & Gerstorf, in press; Roy, 2002; Shackman et al, 2016c; Wilson et al, 2006; Woods, Wille, Wu, Lievens, & De Fruyt, 2019), particularly when negative events occur prior to adulthood (Newton-Howes, Horwood, & Mulder, 2015; Ogle, Rubin, & Siegler, 2014; Shiner, Allen, & Masten, 2017). On the other hand, there is evidence that dispositional negativity can be attenuated by positive experiences, such as job promotions and marriage (Denissen, Luhmann, Chung, & Bleidorn, in press; Klimstra et al, 2018; Schalet et al, 2016; Shackman et al, 2016c).…”