Personality and the affective disorders: past efforts, current models, and future directions

Abstract

The existence of a relation between personality and the affective disorders has long been observed but with little agreement as to how it can best be described. This paper reviews attempts to address this issue, beginning with an examination of subaffective personality types. The personality dimensions of two major predominant theories, the Five Factor Model of Personality and the Seven Factor Dimensional Psychobiological Model of Temperament and Character, and the relation of these dimensions with bipolar disorder and unipolar depression is also examined. Throughout, the state-versus-trait issue is explored, and the last section is a critical reexamination of this continuing controversy. The overall objective is to search for commonalities in past and present models, and to deal with ongoing concerns, in order to point the way for future research in the field.