Abstract:

Objective     To explore the impact of personality traits of depressive patients on clinical outcomes.  Methods     Personality traits were evaluated with the Revised NEO Personality Inventory（NEO-PI-R） in depressive outpatients(n=72) and the controls(n=67).  The patients were treated with escitalopram for 8 weeks. Severity of depression was assessed before and after treatment by Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) and Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA).  Results     The patients with depression had a significantly different personality profile at the baseline compared with the healthy controls(P＜0.05) and the severity of their illness correlated with high scores in anxiety facet(N1)(r=0.415). The NEO-PI-R showed that N1, N3, C and C3 were strongly associated with score reduced rates of HAMD at the end of 8th week.  Conclusion     There are significant differences in personality traits between depressive patients and healthy controls. Personality traits may predict the clinical outcome in depressive patients.

Key words: NEO Personality Inventory; Personality; Depression