PERSONALITY-TRAITS IN THE FIRST DEGREE RELATIVES OF OUTPATIENTS WITH DEPRESSIVE-DISORDERS

This study examined several hypotheses regarding the relationship betw een personality and depression using a family study. Relatives of outp atients with depressive disorders and controls completed a battery of personality inventories assessing sociotropy, autonomy, dependency, se lf-criticism, neuroticism, extraversion, and hopelessness. Relatives w ith current mood disorders differed from healthy relatives on almost a ll measures. Relatives with past histories of affective disorder were more neurotic, self-critical and dependent than healthy relatives. Res ults suggest that scores on personality measures are mood state-depend ent, and may change as a function of mood disorder.