Personality factors in mental disorders of later life

The roles of personality factors in psychopathology are most often examined from the standpoint of personality disorders, but this approach may useful ly be complemented by other theoretical and methodological perspectives. In particular individual personalities can be conceptualized as having measur able degrees of various stable traits or as demonstrating evidence of vario us dynamic processes, such as specific cognitive, motivational, or emotiona l patterns. The author discusses these three basic approaches, reviews rece nt representative studies from each, and indicates directions for further r esearch. A concluding section suggests ways to integrate the various approa ches to more fully understand personality factors in late-life mental disor ders.