SynthesisDepression and anxiety2015
PERSONALITY AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS: INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPANT META-ANALYSIS OF 10 COHORT STUDIES.
Synthesis in Depression and anxiety, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 158 papers, 14 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
158 citing papers in PubMed, 14 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 400 citations in OpenAlex.
- Personality nuances and inflammation: A coordinated analysis of six samples.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2026Pooled it
- Personality and mortality risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal data.Journal of personality and social psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Personality traits and polypharmacy: meta-analysis of five samples.Psychology & health · 2025Pooled it
- Long-term Efficacy and Safety of Sodium Oxybate in Treating Alcohol Use Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Current neuropharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- Personality and Risk of Arthritis in Six Longitudinal Samples.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2024Pooled it
- Machine Learning for Multimodal Mental Health Detection: A Systematic Review of Passive Sensing Approaches.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Pooled it
- How big five personality traits influence information sharing on social media: A meta analysis.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Five-factor model personality traits and grip strength: Meta-analysis of seven studies.Journal of psychosomatic research · 2022Pooled it
- Personality and fatigue: meta-analysis of seven prospective studies.Scientific reports · 2022Pooled it
- Personality and subjective age: Evidence from six samples.Psychology and aging · 2022Pooled it
- Religiosity/Spirituality and Mental Health in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies.Frontiers in medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Cross-sectional and prospective association between personality traits and IADL/ADL limitations.Psychology and aging · 2021Pooled it
- The neuro-pathophysiology of temporomandibular disorders-related pain: a systematic review of structural and functional MRI studies.The journal of headache and pain · 2020Pooled it
- Personality and smoking: individual-participant meta-analysis of nine cohort studies.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2015Pooled it
- Individualized assignment to short-term alcohol abstinence: A proof-of-concept human laboratory study using psychopathology dimensions.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2026Article
- Changes in emotional demands at work and subsequent risk of long-term sickness absence: a nationwide cohort study in Denmark.European journal of public health · 2026Article
- Heterogeneous profiles of virtue personality trait in anxiety-depression symptom networks and simulated intervention effects: evidence from a large college student sample.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Symptoms of depression, suicidal ideation, and personality traits in a sample of medical students: a cross-sectional study.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- Personality development from early to middle adulthood in the general population and those with mental health difficulties.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Predictors of depressive symptoms and depression in women with previous pregnancy loss.The British journal of clinical psychology · 2026Article
98 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 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPersonality is suggested to be a major risk factor for depression but large-scale individual participant meta-analyses on this topic are lacking.
methodData from 10 prospective community cohort studies with 117,899 participants (mean age 49.0 years; 54.7% women) were pooled for individual participant meta-analysis to determine the association between personality traits of the five-factor model and risk of depressive symptoms.
resultsIn cross-sectional analysis, low extraversion (pooled standardized regression coefficient (B) = -.08; 95% confidence interval = -0.11, -0.04), high neuroticism (B = .39; 0.32, 0.45), and low conscientiousness (B = -.09; -0.10, -0.06) were associated with depressive symptoms. Similar associations were observed in longitudinal analyses adjusted for baseline depressive symptoms (n = 56,735; mean follow-up of 5.0 years): low extraversion (B = -.03; -0.05, -0.01), high neuroticism (B = .12; 0.10, 0.13), and low conscientiousness (B = -.04; -0.06, -0.02) were associated with an increased risk of depressive symptoms at follow-up. In turn, depressive symptoms were associated with personality change in extraversion (B = -.07; 95% CI = -0.12, -0.02), neuroticism (B = .23; 0.09, 0.36), agreeableness (B = -.09; -0.15, -0.04), conscientiousness (B = -.14; -0.21, -0.07), and openness to experience (B = -.04; -0.08, 0.00).
conclusionsPersonality traits are prospectively associated with the development of depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms, in turn, are associated with changes in personality that may be temporary or persistent.
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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.