Chunk #51 — PERSONALITY TRAIT DIMENSIONS — The Five-Factor Model — Evidence bearing on causal models — Personality in relatives of depressed individuals
A number of studies have tested the common cause, continuum/spectrum, precursor, and predisposition models by comparing personality traits in the never-depressed relatives of patients with mood disorders and never-depressed controls (e.g., Farmer et al. 2002, Hecht et al. 1998, Ouimette et al. 1996). The results have been mixed, with some studies reporting higher N/NE and/or lower E/PE in the never-depressed relatives of probands with mood disorders, and other studies reporting no differences. However, interpretation of these studies is complicated by two factors. First, personality traits may not play the same role in risk for depression among familial as nonfamilial forms of depression. Second, there may be selection biases in samples using well relatives who are already partly through the risk period for mood disorder. Thus, those relatives with the strongest personality vulnerabilities may have already developed the disorder and be excluded from the study.
