title: Separate personality traits from states to predict depression.
abstract: Results have been inconsistent regarding the ability of personality measures to predict future depression severity levels, leading some researchers to question the validity of personality assessment, especially when patients are acutely depressed. Using a combination of regression and factor analytic techniques, we separated the variance of personality measures into stable trait and variable state-affect components. Findings supported the hypotheses that depression severity measured at different time points would correlate with both stable trait and concurrent state-affect components in personality measures, whereas change in depression severity would correlate with state changes but not with stable trait scores. Thus, personality assessments tap both state affect and trait variance, with the state-affect variance masking the trait variance when patients are depressed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City 52242-1407, USA. la-clark@uiowa.edu
authors.forename: Lee Anna
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vittengl
authors.forename: Dolores
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kraft
authors.forename: Robin B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Jarrett
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires