each of the many adverse outcomes associated with neuroticism. More expensive interventions would need to produce larger decreases in physical and mental disorders to be cost-effective. Although much remains to be learned, prescription medication might provide a way to reduce neuroticism (Knutson et al., 1998), but only if the benefits outweighed the side effects and costs. Similarly, adaptations of cognitive and behavioral interventions like those developed for stress management (Antoni et al., 2000; Cruess et al., 2000; Hampel, Meier, & Kummel, 2008), to prevent anxiety disorders and depression (Bienvenu & Ginsburg, 2007; Stice, Rohde, Seeley, & Gau, 2008), or to treat borderline personality disorder (Woodberry & Popenoe, 2008) could possibly prove to be cost-effective for reducing the broad dimension of neuroticism if they were implemented in group settings and yielded significant reductions in the incidence of physical and mental disorders. This is not because these interventions are inexpensive but because the mental and physical disorders associated with neuroticism are extremely expensive in human and monetary terms. Little empirical evidence can be brought to bear on these potential prevention strategies at present, but they are very worthy of consideration.
