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James H. Kocsis, MD

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

In their article "Personality and Major Depression: A Swedish Longitudinal, Population-Based Twin Study," Kendler and colleagues reported the results of a study that "examined the association between personality and the lifetime risk for depression. . . . "^1(p1118) They conducted elegant and sophisticated analyses of genetically determined risk for neuroticism and major depression in the context of a beautifully designed longitudinal study conducted in an ideal sample of twins. They concluded, "Results from both longitudinal and genetic analyses support the hypothesis that neuroticism strongly reflects the liability to MD [major depression]. This association arises largely because neuroticism indexes the genetic risk for depressive illness."^1(p1113)

I am writing to question the assumption that "neuroticism," as measured by the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), represents a personality trait and to propose an alternative interpretation of their findings. We have long known that personality measures are highly influenced by affective state.² The results of . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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RELATED ARTICLE

Personality and Major Depression: A Swedish Longitudinal, Population-Based Twin Study
Kenneth S. Kendler, Margaret Gatz, Charles O. Gardner, and Nancy L. Pedersen
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2006;63(10):1113-1120.
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