Trial reportArchives of general psychiatry2009
Personality change during depression treatment: a placebo-controlled trial.
Trial report in Archives of general psychiatry, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 102 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
102 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 381 citations in OpenAlex.
- Is low positive emotionality a specific risk factor for depression? A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies.Psychological bulletin · 2016Pooled it
- Genetic and environmental continuity in personality development: a meta-analysis.Psychological bulletin · 2014Pooled it
- Avoidant Personality Traits and Avoidant Coping in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy vs. Short-Term Psychodynamic Psychotherapy for Adult Depression.Personality and mental health · 2026Trial
- Personality change in a trial of psilocybin therapy v. escitalopram treatment for depression.Psychological medicine · 2024Trial
- Assessing Theories of State and Trait Change in Neuroticism and Symptom Improvement in the Unified Protocol.Behavior therapy · 2024Trial
- Does the unified protocol really change neuroticism? Results from a randomized trial.Psychological medicine · 2021Trial
- Changing personality traits with the help of a digital personality change intervention.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021Trial
- Therapeutic effect of increased openness: Investigating mechanism of action in MDMA-assisted psychotherapy.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2017Trial
- Specific Pharmacological Effects of Paroxetine Comprise Psychological but Not Somatic Symptoms of Depression.PloS one · 2016Trial
- Replication and extension: separate personality traits from states to predict depression.Journal of personality disorders · 2014Trial
- Personality change following internet-based cognitive behavior therapy for severe health anxiety.PloS one · 2014Trial
- Effects of electro-acupuncture on personality traits in depression: a randomized controlled study.Chinese journal of integrative medicine · 2013Trial
- Personality factors moderate the associations between apolipoprotein genotype and cognitive function as well as late onset Alzheimer disease.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2012Trial
- Can an old dog learn (and want to experience) new tricks? Cognitive training increases openness to experience in older adults.Psychology and aging · 2012Trial
- Trial
- The effects of sertraline on psychopathic traits.International clinical psychopharmacology · 2011Trial
- Neuroticism, Internalizing Psychopathology, and Affective Reactions to Thought Content in Daily Life.Journal of personality · 2026Article
- Learning optimal early decision treatment rules with multi-domain intermediate outcomes.Biometrics · 2026Article
- Divergent pathways from body image to disordered eating and physical activity: differential roles of thin-ideal and muscular-ideal internalization among Chinese female college students.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Associations of Romantic Partners' Characteristics with Alcohol Consumption and Binge Drinking: Examining Evidence for Gene-Environment Interaction.Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · 2025Article
42 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
contextHigh neuroticism is a personality risk factor that reflects much of the genetic vulnerability to major depressive disorder (MDD), and low extraversion may increase risk as well. Both have been linked to the serotonin system.
objectivesTo test whether patients with MDD taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) report greater changes in neuroticism and extraversion than patients receiving inert placebo, and to examine the state effect hypothesis that self-reported personality change during SSRI treatment is merely a change of depression-related measurement bias.
designA placebo-controlled trial.
settingResearch clinics. Patients Adult patients with moderate to severe MDD randomized to receive paroxetine (n = 120), placebo (n = 60), or cognitive therapy (n = 60). OUTCOME MEASURES: NEO Five-Factor Inventory and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression.
resultsPatients who took paroxetine reported greater personality change than placebo patients, even after controlling for depression improvement (neuroticism, P < .001; extraversion, P = .002). The advantage of paroxetine over placebo in antidepressant efficacy was no longer significant after controlling for change in neuroticism (P = .46) or extraversion (P = .14). Patients taking paroxetine reported 6.8 times as much change on neuroticism and 3.5 times as much change on extraversion as placebo patients matched for depression improvement. Although placebo patients exhibited substantial depression improvement (Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression score, -1.2 SD, P < .001), they reported little change on neuroticism (-0.18 SD, P = .08) or extraversion (0.08 SD, P = .50). Cognitive therapy produced greater personality change than placebo (P </= .01); but its advantage on neuroticism was no longer significant after controlling for depression (P = .14). Neuroticism reduction during treatment predicted lower relapse rates among paroxetine responders (P = .003) but not among cognitive therapy responders (P = .86).
conclusionsParoxetine appears to have a specific pharmacological effect on personality that is distinct from its effect on depression. If replicated, this pattern would disconfirm the state effect hypothesis and instead support the notion that SSRIs' effects on personality go beyond and perhaps contribute to their antidepressant effects.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.