HOSTILITY, STRESS AND SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION

In a non-clinical sample of traditional and non-traditional college st udents, neurotic hostility, which is a measure of the experience of an ger, was a good predictor of symptoms of depression, whereas expressiv e hostility, which is a measure of the outward expression of anger, wa s a weak predictor. Stress was also associated with symptoms of depres sion, and neurotic hostility predicted more total stress and greater s tress from interpersonal, personal competency, and cognitive stressors , but not from environmental or varied stressors than expressive hosti lity, which did not differ from low hostility. These findings were con sistent with our recent characterizations of neurotic and expressive h ostility in terms of associated traits within a comprehensive five-fac tor model of personality. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.