The Predictive Value of Personality Traits for Psychological Problems (Stress, Anxiety and Depression): Results from a Large Population Based Study

Abstract

The current study aimed to determine the prognostic values of personality traits for common psychological problems in a large sample of Iranian adult. In a large sample of healthy people (n = 4763) who lived in Isfahan province; the NEO-FFI was used to assess the personality traits; depression and anxiety were assessed using the "Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)" also stress was measured through Persian validated version of General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Receiver Operating Characteristics Curve (ROC) analysis was used as main statistical method for data analysis. ROC analysis showed neuroticism was the best predictor for all psychological problems with highest area under the curve (AUC) (95% confidence interval) for stress, 0.837 (0.837-0.851), anxiety 0.861 (0.847-0.876) and depression 0.833 (0.820-0.846) (p < .001) and the corresponding cut-off points (sensitivity, specificity), were 21.5 (77%, 66%), 22.5 (81%, 77%) and 20.5 (77%, 74%), respectively. Other personality traits were significant protective factors for being affected with psychological problems (p < .001). Similar findings were observed separately in women and men. The present study showed that the neuroticism is significant risk factor for being affected with three psychological problems while other traits are significant protective factors. Personality traits are useful indices for screening psychological problems and an effective pathway toward prevention in general population.

Keywords: Personality traits; ROC analysis; anxiety; depression; stress.

Figure 1

Receiver-operating characteristic curve depicting area under the curve of personality traits for predicting psychological problems in total population. (a) Area under the curve for predicting depression by neuroticism. (b) Area under the curve for predicting anxiety by neuroticism. (c) Area under the curve for predicting stress by neuroticism. (d) Area under the curve for predicting depression by other personality traits. (e) Area under the curve for predicting anxiety by other personality traits. (f) Area under the curve for predicting stress by other personality traits.

Figure 2

Receiver-operating characteristic curve depicting area under the curve of sum of the scores of all personality traits simultaneously for predicting psychological disorders. (a) Area under the curve for predicting depression by sum of scores of all personality traits. (b) Area under the curve for predicting anxiety by sum of scores of all personality traits. (c) Area under the curve for predicting anxiety by sum of scores of all personality traits.