Personality and Major Depression

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Abstract
Although the association between personality and the risk for major depression (MD) could arise from multiple processes,1,2 it is of particular interest to determine whether some dimension of personality reflects an enduring liability to depressive illness. The most powerful natural experiment with which to evaluate such an association would incorporate both longitudinal and genetic designs. Ideally, personality would be measured in a large, representative sample early in adult life when most individuals are free of a history of depressive illness. Years later, the lifetime history of MD would be assessed.