Predicting anxiety and depression from personality: is there a synergistic effect of neuroticism and extraversion?
In a longitudinal study of college students, B. S. Gershuny and K. J. Sher (1998) found that high neuroticism and low extraversion had a synergistic effect in predicting anxiety and depression 3 years later. This article attempted to replicate their finding using data from 2 community samples: (a) a cross-sectional survey of 2,677 persons aged 18-79 years, and (b) a longitudinal study in which 441 persons aged 70 or older were followed over 3-4 years. Both studies found that neuroticism predicted anxiety and depression, but there were no Neuroticism x Extraversion interaction effects. These results cast doubt on the generalizability of the original findings.
Jorm
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AF
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Psychiatric Epidemiology Research Centre, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia. anthony.jorm@anu.edu.au
Christensen
H
H
Henderson
A S
AS
Jacomb
P A
PA
Korten
A E
AE
Rodgers
B
B
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D001315:Australia; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005120:Extraversion, Psychological; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D010551:Personality; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012494:Sampling Studies