Depression and the melancholic temperament

David Watson, University of Iowa
Lee A. Clark

Abstract

We examine how depression relates to two broad affective dispositions which we call Negative Temperament and Positive Temperament. Depressed individuals characteristically display a particular combination of these traits (high Negative/low Positive Temperament), which also defines the traditional melancholic type. Other evidence, however, suggests that this pattern is not unique to depression, but may also characterize other types of disorder: high Negative Temperament, in particular, appears to be nonsignificantly associated with distress-based psychopathology. Finally, we review data indicating that the etiology of these relations is highly complex. Specifically, it appears that (i) temperament influences the development and course of depression; (ii) depressive episodes can lead to significant changes in temperament, some of which may be permanent; and (iii) temperament and depression may reflect, in part, a common genetic diathesis.