Methodology and preliminary results from the neurobiology of late-life depression study
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BACKGROUND: We sought to investigate the relationship between neuroticism and depression in an elderly cohort. In this paper, we describe the methods of an National Institute of Mental Health-NIMH-supported study and present findings among the cohort enrolled to date. METHODS: We used the NEO Personality Inventory to assess neuroticism, and we employed several cognitive neuroscience-based measures to examine emotional control. RESULTS: Compared with a group of 27 non-depressed older control subjects, 33 older depressed subjects scored higher on measures of state and trait anxiety and neuroticism. On our experimental neuroscience-based measures, depressed subjects endorsed more negative words compared with controls on an emotional characterization test. In addition, we found a significant group-by-congruency effect on an emotional interference test where subjects were asked to identify the face's emotional expression while ignoring the words "fear" or "happy" labeled across the face. CONCLUSION: Thus, in this preliminary work, we found significant differences in measures of neuroticism and emotional controls among older adults with and without depression.
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About 45% of older adults with late-life depression report high neuroticism on personality questionnaires.
“Data from two large cohorts, the Neurocognitive Outcomes of Depression in the Elderly30 and the Neurobiology of Late-Life Depression31 studies, indicate high neuroticism self-reported on personality questionnaires is present in about 45% of older adults with LLD.”
From State of the Science of Neural Systems in Late‐Life Depression: Impact on Clinical Presentation and Treatment Outcome (2018) · cites this paper as [31]
Neuroticism is frequently elevated in late-life major depression.
“Neuroticism is frequently elevated in LLD (17)”
From Neuroticism Traits Selectively Impact Long Term Illness Course and Cognitive Decline in Late-Life Depression (2017) · cites this paper as [17]
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- Authors
- Steffens, D. C., Manning, K. J., Wu, R., Grady, J. J., Fortinsky, R. H., & Tennen, H. A.
- Affiliations
- UConn Health (US)
- Corresponding author
- Steffens, David C.
- Venue
- International Psychogeriatrics
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-12
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 1987-1997
- ISSN
- 1041-6102 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4626260
- OpenAlex
- W1856243749
- Cited by
- 22
- References
- 63
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2
- FWCI
- 3.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- International Psychogeriatrics (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Connecticut Health Center
- National Institute of Mental Health (MH096725)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Keywords
- geriatric depression, neuroticism, older adults, emotional control, anxiety, emotional interference, facial emotion recognition, personality traits
- MeSH terms
- Neuroticism, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Depression, Female, Humans, Life Change Events, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Personality Disorders, Personality Inventory, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, United States
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