Lin Mei-Fang, Ko Huei-Chen, Wu Jo Y W, Chang Fong-Ming
Institute of Behavioral Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, College of Medicine, Tainan, Taiwan.
Menopause. 2008 Jan-Feb;15(1):138-43. doi: 10.1097/gme.0b013e31804b419d.
The study was designed to test whether neuroticism moderated the effect of extroversion and mediated the impact of menopause status on depressive symptoms among women in Taiwan during their menopausal transition.
A sample of 197 women, aged 40 to 60 years, were recruited from the community. We used Ko's Depression Inventory, the Five-Factor Inventory-Chinese version, the Menopausal Symptoms Scale, and the Chinese version of the Modified Schedule of Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Lifetime to gather data. Moreover, each woman underwent a semistructured diagnostic interview in person to obtain her lifetime psychiatric history.
The hierarchy regression analyses showed that the interaction between neuroticism and extroversion was statistically significant. Further analyses indicated that in the high neuroticism group, extroversion was negatively associated with depressive symptoms; however, in the low neuroticism group, extroversion was not correlated with depressive symptoms. Menopause status was correlated with depressive symptoms, but after adding neuroticism and extroversion, the main effect of menopause status became insignificant. Results of the Sobel test showed that depressive symptoms of women during the menopause transition largely represented neuroticism.
The present study revealed that the lower levels of extroversion are associated with depression among all stages of menopausal women with high levels of neuroticism; moreover, all stages of menopausal women who have high levels of neuroticism are more vulnerable to depression. The results support that personality may play an important role in women's depression during the transition of menopausal status.
本研究旨在检验神经质是否调节外向性的影响，并介导绝经状态对台湾处于绝经过渡阶段女性抑郁症状的影响。
从社区招募了197名年龄在40至60岁之间的女性样本。我们使用柯氏抑郁量表、中文版五因素人格量表、更年期症状量表以及中文版改良情感障碍和精神分裂症终身评定量表来收集数据。此外，每位女性都亲自接受了半结构化诊断访谈以获取其终身精神病史。
层次回归分析表明，神经质与外向性之间的交互作用具有统计学意义。进一步分析表明，在高神经质组中，外向性与抑郁症状呈负相关；然而，在低神经质组中，外向性与抑郁症状无相关性。绝经状态与抑郁症状相关，但在加入神经质和外向性因素后，绝经状态的主效应变得不显著。索贝尔检验结果表明，处于绝经过渡阶段女性的抑郁症状在很大程度上体现为神经质。
本研究表明，在神经质水平较高的绝经女性各阶段中，较低的外向性水平与抑郁相关；此外，神经质水平较高的绝经女性各阶段更容易患抑郁症。研究结果支持人格在绝经状态转变期间女性抑郁中可能起重要作用。
