title: Neuroticism, extraversion, life events and depression. The Cardiff Depression Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Certain personality traits may mediate the relationship between familiality and adversity in causing depression.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine whether the neuroticism and extraversion scales of the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) represent enduring traits underlying the vulnerability to respond to adversity by developing depressive episodes.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 108 subjects with depression and their siblings were compared with 105 healthy control subjects and their siblings. All were interviewed using the Schedules for the Clinical Assessment of Neuropsychiatry and the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule. Subjects also completed the EPI.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both neuroticism and extraversion were familial and correlated with mood and life event measures. There were no differences on either measure between the never-depressed siblings of probands with depression and controls. Regression analyses showed that the major influence on neuroticism was current mood.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Neither extraversion nor neuroticism measures trait vulnerability to depression, and neuroticism scores mainly reflect symptoms of depression.
authors.affiliation: MRC Social Genetic and Developmental Psychiatric Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Farmer
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Redman
authors.forename: Tanya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Arshad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mahmood
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sadler
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pickering
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: McGuffin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005120:Extraversion, Psychological; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors; D012801:Sibling Relations