title: A dimensional approach to personality in atypical depression.
abstract: The current study addresses the relationship of personality and atypical depression using the Five-Factor Model (FFM), a dimensional approach to personality. The aim of the study was to help clarify which personality traits are more characteristic of atypical depression than of other depressive subtypes. Outpatients (n=160) with non-psychotic major depression were characterized as having atypical (n=26), or non-atypical depression (n=134) based on DSM-IV criteria. To limit the effect of state depression, personality was assessed after subjects received a minimum of 14 weeks of antidepressant treatment. The Revised NEO Personality Inventory, which generates data based on the FFM, was the primary assessment measure. Post-treatment, relative to the non-atypical comparison group, the atypical group had significantly higher scores on the dimension of Neuroticism, the facets of Impulsivity and Anger-Hostility, and a significantly lower score on the facet of Deliberation. In sum, the FFM provides a new understanding of which unique personality characteristics may be associated with atypical depression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, c/o CAMH Room 1121, 250 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5T 1R8. kevin_chopra@camh.net
authors.forename: Kevin K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Chopra
authors.forename: R Michael
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Bagby
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dickens
authors.forename: Sidney H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.forename: Arun
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ravindran
authors.forename: Robert D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Levitan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000786:Anger; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D007174:Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006791:Hostility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012720:Severity of Illness Index