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Temperament, character and symptoms of anxiety and depression in the general population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

Pekka Jylhä  and
Erkki Isometsä
Pekka Jylhä
Affiliation:
Department of Mental Health and Alcohol Research, National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland Department of Psychiatry, Jorvi Hospital, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Espoo, Finland
Erkki Isometsä*
Affiliation:
Department of Mental Health and Alcohol Research, National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland Department of Psychiatry, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
*
*Corresponding author. Head of Mood Disorders Research, Department of Mental Health and Alcohol Research, National Public Health Institute, Mannerheimintie 166, 00300 Helsinki. E-mail address: erkki.isometsa@ktl.fi (E. Isometsä).
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Abstract

Few studies have investigated the relationship of temperament and character, as conceptualized in the Temperament and Character Inventory–Revised (TCI-R), to symptoms of depression and anxiety in the general population. In this study a random sample of subjects (20 to 70 years), in two Finnish cities, were surveyed with the TCI-R, Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories, plus questions related to diagnosed lifetime mental disorders, health care use for psychiatric reasons during the past 12 months, and history of mental disorders in first-degree relatives. Altogether 347 subjects (38.6%) responded. Of the TCI-R dimensions, Harm Avoidance correlated with symptoms of depression (rs = 0.555, p < 0.001), anxiety (rs= 0.560, p < 0.001), self-reported lifetime mental disorder (rs = 0.272, p< 0.001), health care use for psychiatric reason during the past 12 months (rs = 0.241, p< 0.001) and family history of mental disorder (rs = 0.202, p<0.001). Self-directedness correlated negatively with symptoms of depression (rs = -0.495, p< 0.001), anxiety (rs = -0.458, p < 0.001), lifetime mental disorder (rs = 0.225, p< 0.001) and health care use (rs = -0.135, p = 0.013). Overall, Harm Avoidance and Self-directedness seem to associate moderately with depressive and anxiety symptoms, and somewhat predict self-reported use of health services for psychiatric reasons, and lifetime mental disorder. High harm avoidance may associate with a family history of mental disorder.

Keywords

TemperamentCharacterPersonalityDepressionAnxiety
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 21 , Issue 6 , September 2006 , pp. 389 - 395
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier SAS 2006

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