Differential relations of depression and social anxiety symptoms to the facets of extraversion/positive emotionality

J Abnorm Psychol. 2009 May;118(2):299-310. doi: 10.1037/a0015637.

Abstract

Previous research has shown that both depression and social anxiety--2 facets of internalizing psychopathology--are characterized by low levels of extraversion/positive emotionality (E/PE). However, little is known about the relations of the facets of E/PE with the symptoms of depression and social anxiety. This study utilized multiple measures of each facet of E/PE, as well as depression and social anxiety symptoms. Self-report data were collected from large samples of college students and psychiatric outpatients. Separate factor analyses in each sample revealed a 4-factor structure of E/PE consisting of Sociability, Positive Emotionality, Ascendance, and Fun-Seeking. Structural equation modeling revealed that, after controlling for the higher order internalizing factor and the overlap among the E/PE facets, social anxiety was broadly related to all 4 facets of E/PE, whereas depression was strongly related to only low positive emotionality. Implications for hierarchical models of personality and psychopathology, assessment and treatment, and etiological models are discussed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adaptation, Psychological
  • Adolescent
  • Affect*
  • Anxiety / psychology*
  • Depression / psychology*
  • Extraversion, Psychological*
  • Factor Analysis, Statistical
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interpersonal Relations
  • Male
  • Outpatients / psychology*
  • Personality Inventory
  • Phobic Disorders / psychology
  • Pleasure-Pain Principle*
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
  • Students / psychology*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Universities
  • Young Adult