Linking “big” personality traits to anxiety, depressive, and substance use disorders: A meta-analysis.

Abstract

We performed a quantitative review of associations between the higher order personality traits in the Big Three and Big Five models (i.e., neuroticism, extraversion, disinhibition, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness) and specific depressive, anxiety, and substance use disorders (SUD) in adults. This approach resulted in 66 meta-analyses. The review included 175 studies published from 1980 to 2007, which yielded 851 effect sizes. For a given analysis, the number of studies ranged from three to 63 (total sample size ranged from 1,076 to 75,229). All diagnostic groups were high on neuroticism (mean Cohen's d = 1.65) and low on conscientiousness (mean d = -1.01). Many disorders also showed low extraversion, with the largest effect sizes for dysthymic disorder (d = -1.47) and social phobia (d = -1.31). Disinhibition was linked to only a few conditions, including SUD (d = 0.72). Finally, agreeableness and openness were largely unrelated to the analyzed diagnoses. Two conditions showed particularly distinct profiles: SUD, which was less related to neuroticism but more elevated on disinhibition and disagreeableness, and specific phobia, which displayed weaker links to all traits. Moderator analyses indicated that epidemiologic samples produced smaller effects than patient samples and that Eysenck's inventories showed weaker associations than NEO scales. In sum, we found that common mental disorders are strongly linked to personality and have similar trait profiles. Neuroticism was the strongest correlate across the board, but several other traits showed substantial effects independent of neuroticism. Greater attention to these constructs can significantly benefit psychopathology research and clinical practice.

The Relationship Between Borderline Personality Disorder and Major Depression in Later Life: Acute Versus Temperamental Symptoms

“…Previous reports have shown a strong relationship between neuroticism and major depression and a negligible relationship between agreeableness and major depression. 25,26 The authors concluded that the relationship between BPD temperamental symptoms and neuroticism might represent a risk factor for developing major mood disorders.…”

The Relation of Dysfunctional Cognitive Schemas and Personality Dimensions in Generalized Anxiety Disorder

“…This pattern of results is consistent with other studies which found low scores on these dimensions of personality in clinical samples. Specifically, these studies not only showed low scores on Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Emotional Stability (high Neuroticism), but also they revealed a relationship between these personality dimensions and the presence of anxiety and depression symptomatology (29)(30). Not only are the aforementioned low scores of these personality dimensions associated with anxiety and depression symptomatology, but along with low Agreeableness, these four characteristics are typically associated with almost all types of symptoms of clinical disorders (31).…”

The Associations of Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms, Five-Factor Model Personality Dimensions, and Personality Fragmentation among Depressed Inpatients

“…As stated, these personality dimensions have previously been associated with BPD and/or MDD separately [15][16][17][18]24,25] but their specific associations to BPD among depressed patients are unknown. Based on previous findings, we hypothesize that higher Neuroticism, lower Agreeableness and lower Conscientiousness are associated with increased BPD symptoms within a depressed sample.…”