Work in European and US populations indicates that the association between MDD and neuroticism is in part mediated by a common genetic susceptibility (Fanous et al., 2002) which also contributes to the correlation between MDD and anxiety disorders (Hettema et al., 2004; Hettema et al., 2006; Jardine et al., 1984; Kendler et al., 2007). While evidence indicates that the features of neuroticism are similar in different cultures and countries (McCrae and Terracciano, 2005), it is not clear whether the relation between neuroticism and MDD is present in non-Western populations.
