Articulation and testing of a personality-centred model of psychopathology: evidence from a longitudinal community study over 30 years.

Advances in psychopathological research advocate a personality-centred model of common mental disorders (CMD). We tested four hypotheses to test such a model. First, personality relates to critical life events; second, both personality and critical life events relate to CMD; third, interaction effects between personality and critical life events relate to CMD; fourth, neuroticism explains the majority of variance in psychopathology. We analysed data (n = 453) based on seven semi-structured interviews from a longitudinal epidemiologic cohort study over 30 years spanning years 1979 (age 20) to 2008 (age 50). CMD and critical life events were assessed seven times between 1979 and 2008 and personality domains of neuroticism, extraversion and aggressiveness in 1988 and 1993. Aggressiveness and neuroticism related to partnership rupture and job loss. Neuroticism related significantly to major depression, anxiety disorders, substance-use disorders (SUD) and severity of psychopathology. Both partnership rupture and job loss related to major depression and severity of psychopathology, but not to anxiety disorder or SUD. An interaction effect between neuroticism and partnership rupture pointed towards significantly increased SUD prevalence. All associations held when additionally adjusted for childhood adversity and familial socio-economic status. According to a pseudo-R