Elsevier

Psychiatry Research

Volume 166, Issue 1, 31 March 2009, Pages 63-68
Psychiatry Research

Emotional intelligence and personality in major depression: Trait versus state effects

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2008.03.015Get rights and content

Abstract

Several studies have explored the link between depression and personality with classical personality questionnaires like the Revised NEO Personality Inventory and the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). However, no studies have been conducted with the revised form of the TCI (TCI-R). Moreover, since a few studies conducted on normal subjects suggest that Emotional Intelligence (EI) would be lower in depression, but that the concept has not been explicitly measured in patients with major depressive disorder, EI was assessed here with the modified version of Schutte's scale among a group of depressive patients. In addition, both personality and EI measures were carried out during the clinical state of depression and after the remission to assess the state versus trait aspect. The study was conducted on 54 major depressive inpatients (20 in remission) and 54 matched controls. As expected, depressive patients exhibited higher score on harm avoidance (HA), and lower scores on persistence (P), self-directedness (SD), cooperativeness (C), optimism/emotional regulation subscore, and total EI score as compared with controls. In the period of remission, patients again had elevated scores on HA, and lower scores on SD. In contrast, the total EI score did not differ between controls and depressive patients in remission. The results confirm that some personality dimensions are dependent on both state and trait aspects of depression, and suggest that EI only seems to be affected during the clinical state.

Introduction

The relationship between personality and depression is extremely complex: personality features may predispose an individual to depression; the personality can be modified after a depression; the personality can modify the clinical presentation of a depressive disorder; and finally the personality can be conceptualized as a subclinical manifestation of a depressive disorder (Akiskal et al., 1983, Hirschfeld et al., 1997). Concerning the personality dimensions proposed by Cloninger et al. (1993), several studies have demonstrated that harm avoidance (HA, i.e., the tendency toward an inhibitory response to signals of aversive stimuli that lead to avoidance of punishment and non-reward), self-directedness (SD, i.e., the ability of an individual to control, regulate and adapt his behaviour to fit the situation in accord with individually chosen goals and values), cooperativeness (C, i.e., the ability that accounts for individual differences in identification and acceptance of other people), self-transcendence (ST, i.e., a characteristic associated with spirituality and referring generally to identification with everything conceived to be essential and consequential parts of a unified whole), but not novelty seeking (NS, i.e., the tendency to respond actively to novel stimuli leading to pursuit of rewards and escape from punishment), and reward dependence (RD, i.e., the tendency for a positive response to signals of reward to maintain or resist behavioural extinction) dimensions may be related to depression (Strakowski et al., 1995, Chien and Dunner, 1996, Hansenne et al., 1999). More particularly, depressed patients exhibited higher scores on HA and ST dimensions, and lower scores on SD and C dimensions (Hansenne et al., 1999).

In these studies, the dimensions were assessed by the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI; Cloninger et al., 1994). However, Cloninger (1999) developed a revised version of the TCI (TCI-R) introducing two major modifications. First, the original TCI was a true–false questionnaire, instead of a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (definitively false) to 5 (definitively true) for the TCI-R, thus enhancing the precision of measurement for subscales. Second, in the original TCI, the persistence dimension (P, i.e., perseverance despite frustration and fatigue based on resistance to extinction of intermittently reinforced behaviour) was measured by only one short scale, whereas in the TCI-R, this dimension has 35 items and four subscales (eagerness of effort versus laziness; work hardened versus spoiled, ambitious versus underachieving, perfectionist versus pragmatist) to improve its description and measurement. In addition, the TCI-R adds a new subscale for RD (RD2; open to warm communication versus aloofness). The TCI-R exhibits solid psychometric properties (Hansenne et al., 2005). Therefore, it is of interest to study personality dimensions based on the TCI-R in major depression. Moreover, few studies have investigated the “state” versus “trait” effect of the personality dimensions in major depression. Black and Sheline (1997) reported that the SD score increased after successful pharmacotherapy of the depressive episode, suggesting a “state” dependence of this dimension. Previous studies also demonstrated a “state” dependence of the HA dimension (Hansenne et al., 1999). Consequently, the first aim of the study is to assess the “state” versus “trait” effects of the seven dimensions of the TCI-R in a sample of depressive inpatients.

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to recognize and express emotions in yourself, and the ability to understand the emotions of others. Recently has the scientific community become interested in EI, in order to discern what is true among the huge number of claims on this subject. Indeed, there is still controversy about whether EI represents an entity that differs from what psychologists in the field of intelligence, personality and applied psychology already know under other names (Matthews et al., 2002). At present, scientists tend to restrict studies of the effects of EI to its influence on quality of life quality, educational attainment, and occupational success, and the results are promising. Few studies have examined the relationship between EI and depression. However, a better emotional regulation is related to lower perception of stress and a better quality of life, which has obvious implications to prevent depressive states, and subjects with higher EI report elevated psychological well-being and happiness (Austin et al., 2005, Furnham and Petrides, 2003). Therefore, it could be postulated that EI should be reduced in depressive patients. Indeed, some findings among normal (non-depressed) subjects suggest such an association.

Saklofske et al. (2003) reported negative correlations between EI and loneliness and depression-proneness, and positive correlations between EI and subjective happiness and life satisfaction among undergraduate students. Ciarrochi et al. (2002) showed that subjects that can manage others' emotions seem to respond less intensively to stressful situations and exhibit less suicidal ideation, less depression, and less hopelessness; they express more empathy and they have better social support that protects them from negative feelings. In contrast, subjects higher on emotional perception reported greater depression, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation. Schmidt and Andrykowsky (2004) demonstrated that EI is associated with lower distress and lower avoidance of the disease among a sample of women with breast cancer; moreover, high EI could act as a buffer against the negative impact of a toxic social environment. These studies suggest that the EI dimension of emotional regulation is the core feature of the association between EI and depression. Therefore, the second aim of the present study is to test the hypothesis of a negative association between EI and depression, to assess the impact of EI on depressive severity among a group of depressed inpatients, and to assess whether EI in depression is “state” or/and “trait” dependent.

Section snippets

Subjects

The study was conducted in 54 depressive inpatients admitted to the Psychiatric Unit of the Regional Hospital Center of Liège (Belgium). The sample consisted in 34 women and 20 men with a mean age of 44.5 years (S.D. = 8.7). All diagnostic assessments were performed by local psychiatrists, and the patients met the criteria for major depressive disorder according to the DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994), with a score of at least 18 on the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale

Results

Multivariate analysis showed that depressed patients (time 1) had lower scores for persistence, self-directedness and cooperativeness than controls, and higher scores for harm avoidance and self-transcendence (Table 1). Concerning EI, depressed patients had lower EI total scores and lower scores for the subscale “optimism/mood regulation”, as well as for “appraisal of emotions” (Table 1). The other scores did not differ between the two groups.

As compared with the depressed state (time 1),

Discussion

The main findings of the present study are that depressed patients exhibit lower scores for persistence, self-directedness and cooperativeness as compared with controls, and higher scores for harm avoidance and self-transcendence. Moreover, the total EI score and the subscales “optimism/mood regulation” and “appraisal of emotions” are lower among the depressive patients. Interestingly, patients in remission have lower harm avoidance scores, but higher scores for persistence and

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