component of the Extraversion/Introversion personality domain. PRESENT RESEARCH: ? Examines whether extraversion moderates the depressogenic impact ...
Different Pathways to Elevated Depressive Symptoms as a Function of Extraversion, Life Stress, Positive Affect, and Gender Lori F. Cummins & Scott M. Monroe - University of Notre Dame
? Depression is a prevalent and debilitating psychological disorder (Gotlib & Hammen,
2009) that is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide (Murray & Lopez, 1996; WHO, 2002) and affects nearly 20% of the U.S. population at some point in their lives (Kessler & Wang, 2009). ? Severe life stress has consistently been found to precede the onset of depression (Kessler, 1997; Mazure, 1998; Monroe et al., 2009), but only around 20% of those who experience severe life stress break down (Brown & Harris, 1978). Therefore, there must be moderators of life stress. ? Personality factors have long been theorized to be related to vulnerability for depression. According to Clark and Watson’s (1991) Tripartite Model, depression is uniquely characterized by low levels of positive affect (PA), which is a central component of the Extraversion/Introversion personality domain.
t = -1.70, p = .09. ? More extraverted individuals had significantly
Males
Post 27.92 (9.19) 28.10 (9.25) 28.02 (9.14)
Post 27.17 (9.58) 28.31 (11.85) 27.71 (10.56)
Diff -2.50 (4.18) -5.13 (5.90) -3.74 (5.15)
higher levels of pre-test PA than more introverted individuals (â = -.48, t = -5.21, p < .001).
STUDY 1 Test moderating effect of Extraversion using Hierarchical Multiple Regression: ? Break-up, Extraversion main effects entered in Step 1. ? Break-up by Extraversion interaction entered in Step 2. BDI-II No Break-up vs. Very Distressing Break-up Break-up Extraversion Break-up X Extraversion
Standardized â .69 -.15 .11
t 15.06 -3.34 2.09
PANAS-PA Standardized â t -.50 -9.51 .34 6.45 -.19 -3.39
