Public Health Significance of Neuroticism

By Benjamin B. Lahey. American Psychologist, 2009

1,746 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The personality trait of neuroticism refers to relatively stable tendencies to respond with negative emotions to threat, frustration, or loss. Individuals in the population vary markedly on this trait, ranging from frequent and intense emotional reactions to minor challenges to little emotional reaction even in the face of significant difficulties. Although not widely appreciated, there is growing evidence that neuroticism is a psychological trait of profound public health significance. Neuroticism is a robust correlate and predictor of many different mental and physical disorders, comorbidity among them, and the frequency of mental and general health service use. Indeed, neuroticism apparently is a predictor of the quality and longevity of our lives. Achieving a full understanding of the nature and origins of neuroticism, and the mechanisms through which neuroticism is linked to mental and physical disorders, should be a top priority for research. Knowing why neuroticism predicts such a wide variety of seemingly diverse outcomes should lead to improved understanding of commonalities among those outcomes and improved strategies for preventing them.

Subfields: Behavioral Neuroscience, Clinical Psychology, Psychiatry and Mental health

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/953aacfad13f1d67ad43e07306266f766ca79e88

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Citations in the corpus

DSM-5 and the Path Toward Empirically Based and Clinically Useful Conceptualization of Personality and Psychopathology (2014, positive): “For example, due to its strong link to common mental disorders, particular attention has been paid to neuroticism/negative affect (Lahey, 2009; Ormel et al., 2013), and research has shown that neuroticism is predictive of the future development (i.”
Neuroticism and Common Mental Disorders: Meaning and Utility of a Complex Relationship (2013, positive): “Neuroticism is also associated with important outcomes like occupational attainment, divorce, and mortality (Lahey, 2009; B. W. Roberts, Kuncel, Shiner, Caspi, & Goldberg, 2007).”
Interpersonal Dynamics in Personality and Personality Disorders (2018, background): “It came to be seen as redundant and prone to problematic co-occurrence, because all of the PDs are already saturated with neuroticism (Lahey, 2009; Samuel & Widiger, 2008).”
The Nature, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Neuroticism (2014, background): “In addition, Lahey (2009), summarizing the growing evidence for the public-health significance of neuroticism, documented that neuroticism is strongly associated with and predicts many different mental and physical disorders, as well as treatment seeking for not only mental disorders but also…”
Timing of Stressful Life Events Affects Stability and Change of Neuroticism (2014, background): “Low neuroticism scores have even been shown to predict longevity (Lahey, 2009).”
Are Perfectionism Dimensions Vulnerability Factors for Depressive Symptoms after Controlling for Neuroticism? A Meta–analysis of 10 Longitudinal Studies (2016, background): “(Lahey, 2009), including depressive symptoms (e.”
Growth mindset of anxiety buffers the link between stressful life events and psychological distress and coping strategies (2017, methodology): “As research consistently underscores the influence of trait negative affectivity on mental health outcomes (Lahey, 2009), we controlled for negative temperament using the Negative Temperament subscale of the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP-NT; Clark, 1993) in additional…”
Stress and depression: old questions, new approaches (2015, background): “Joining the list of prime predictors of depression or moderators of the stress–depression link, neuroticism is a core human trait reflecting the tendency to interpret the world as dangerous and threatening, coupled with negative emotional reactions in response to stress [38] and is highly predictive”
Psychological well-being and psychological distress: is it necessary to measure both? (2012, background): “…is a longstanding acceptance that psychological distress (PD) in the form of anxiety, sadness, irritability, self-consciousness and emotional vulnerability is strongly correlated with physical morbidity, reduced quality and duration of life, and increased use of health services (e.g. Lahey 2009).”