Temporal course and structural relationships among dimensions of temperament and DSM-IV anxiety and mood disorder constructs.
The temporal stability and directional relations among dimensions of temperament (e.g., neuroticism) and selected Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) disorder constructs (depression, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia) were examined in 606 outpatients with anxiety and mood disorders, assessed on 3 occasions over a 2-year period. Neuroticism/behavioral inhibition (N/BI) and behavioral activation/positive affect (BA/P) accounted for the cross-sectional covariance of the DSM-IV constructs. Although N/BI evidenced the most change of the constructs examined, initial levels of N/BI predicted less improvement in 2 of the 3 disorder constructs. Unlike the DSM-IV disorder constructs, the temporal stability of N/BI increased as a function of initial severity. Moreover, N/BI explained all the temporal covariation of the DSM-IV disorder constructs. The results are discussed in regard to conceptual models of temperament that define N/BI and BA/P as higher order dimensions accounting for the course and covariation of emotional disorder psychopathology.
Brown
Timothy A
TA
Department of Psychology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215-2013, USA. tabrown@bu.edu
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011379:Prognosis; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D013694:Temperament