Obsessional personality features in employed Japanese adults with a lifetime history of depression: assessment by the Munich Personality Test (MPT).
BACKGROUND
Although a number of studies have reported on the association between obsessional personality features as measured by the Munich Personality Test (MPT) "Rigidity" scale and depression, there has been no examination of these relationships in a non-clinical sample.


METHODS
The dimensional scores on the MPT were compared between subjects with and without lifetime depression, using a sample of employed Japanese adults. The odds ratio for suffering from lifetime depression was estimated by multiple logistic regression analysis. To diagnose a lifetime history of depression, the Inventory to Diagnose Depression, Lifetime version (IDDL) was used.


RESULTS
The subjects with lifetime depression scored significantly higher on the "Rigidity" scale than the subjects without lifetime depression. In our logistic regression analysis, three risk factors were identified as each independently increasing a person's risk for suffering from lifetime depression: higher levels of "Rigidity", being of the female gender, and suffering from current depressive symptoms.


CONCLUSIONS
The MPT "Rigidity" scale is a sensitive measure of personality features that occur with depression.
Sakado
K
K
Department of Psychiatry, University of Niigata, Faculty of Medicine Asahimachi-dori 1 Niigata-Shi 951-8510 Japan. nightmar@med.niigata-u.ac.jp
Sakado
M
M
Seki
T
T
Kuwabara
H
H
Kojima
M
M
Sato
T
T
Someya
T
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009770:Obsessive Behavior / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D010551:Personality; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000592:standards*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D012307:Risk Factors; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012737:Sex Factors