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Personality and risk for depression in a birth cohort of 70-year-olds followed for 15 years

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2008

P. R. Duberstein ,
S. P. Pálsson ,
M. Waern  and
I. Skoog
P. R. Duberstein*
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Personality and Development, Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA
S. P. Pálsson
Affiliation:
Division of Psychiatry, Landspitali University Hospital, University of Iceland, Iceland
M. Waern
Affiliation:
Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Department of Psychiatry, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg University, Sweden
I. Skoog
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Personality and Development, Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA
*
*Address for correspondence: P. R. Duberstein, Ph.D., Laboratory of Personality and Development, Box PSYCH, University of Rochester Medical Center, 300 Crittenden Boulevard, Rochester, NY 14642, USA. (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Background

The association between personality traits and the first lifetime onset of clinically significant depression has not been studied in older adults.

Method

Experienced psychiatrists conducted interviews and chart reviews at baseline and throughout the 15-year follow-up period. Survival analyses were conducted on the presence/absence of a DSM-III-R mood disorder at follow-up.

Results

There were 59 cases of first lifetime episodes of depression. Analyses showed that Neuroticism [hazard ratio (HR) per one point increase in the Maudsley Personality Inventory (MPI)=1.05, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02–1.08] but not Extroversion (HR 1.02, 95% CI 0.97–1.06) amplified risk for mood disorder.

Conclusions

This prospective study on a randomly sampled birth cohort of older adults showed that Neuroticism confers risk for a first lifetime episode of clinically significant depression. Findings have implications for understanding the etiology of late-life depression (LLD) and could also aid in the identification and treatment of people at risk.

Keywords

Agingbirth cohortdepressionneuroticismpersonality
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 38 , Issue 5 , May 2008 , pp. 663 - 671
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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