The literature on the relation between personality and depression is large, but it has many gaps and inconsistent findings. Nonetheless, it is possible to draw a number of conclusions. First, there are moderate-to-large cross-sectional associations between depression and three general personality traits—N/NE, E/PE, and conscientiousness—as well as with a variety of related traits (e.g., harm avoidance, rumination, and self-criticism) and personality types (depressive personality). Second, most of the personality traits associated with depression also are related to other forms of psychopathology, particularly anxiety disorders. This may reflect the phenomenon of multifinality, in which variables early in the causal chain lead to multiple outcomes depending on subsequent events in the causal pathway. On the other hand, many of the disorders that are currently classified as distinct conditions are closely related; hence, research on personality-psychopathology associations can provide important information for revising our nosological system. Third, reports of some traits (e.g., N/NE and harm avoidance) are influenced by clinical state, whereas other traits (e.g., E/PE) appear to be independent of mood state. However, state effects cannot fully account for the associations between
