D. Vonzerssen et al., PERSONALITY-TRAITS OF JAPANESE PATIENTS IN REMISSION FROM AN EPISODE OF PRIMARY UNIPOLAR DEPRESSION, Journal of affective disorders, 44(2-3), 1997, pp. 145-152
Personality traits were assessed by means of the Munich Personality Te
st (MPT) in 75 Japanese subjects, 27 patients in remission from an epi
sode of moderate to severe primary unipolar depression, with melanchol
ic features during one episode or more of the disorder, in 24 patients
in remission from other non-organic mental disorders and in 24 health
y controls. Compared with healthy controls, unipolar depressives displ
ayed decreased Frustration Tolerance and elevated Rigidity as well as
a stronger Orientation towards Social Norms. No significant difference
was found between patients in remission from either unipolar depressi
on or other mental disorders. However, the increase in Rigidity in com
parison with healthy subjects was significant in the depressives only
whereas the other patients, in contrast to the depressives, had signif
icantly lower scores in Extraversion than the healthy subjects. Our re
sults in Japanese patients are similar to findings of previous German
studies, including two high risk studies, in which the same assessment
instrument was used. This suggests that, beyond cultural differences,
Rigidity, possibly in combination with a strong Orientation towards S
ocial Norms and a reduced Frustration Tolerance, is a stable vulnerabi
lity marker for at least the more severe forms of primary unipolar dep
ression. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.