Is There Evidence That Personality Traits Act as Risk Factors?
Whether personality traits act as rsk factors for disorders can be addressed by examining personality traits and anxiety disorders longitudinally. There are actually only a few such longitudinal studies, since these studies are rather expensive and difficult to conduct. Angst and Vollrath,13 for example, measured personality traits in young male military recruits and followed these men for 17 years. High baseline neuroticism predicted incidence of anxiety neurosis (now called panic disorder and GAD) over the follow-up period.13 Krueger14 examined personality traits and anxiety disorders longitudinally in a cohort of young people in Dunedin, New Zealand. High baseline negative emotionality (an analogue of neuroticism) in late adolescence predicted onset of anxiety disorders by young adulthood; unfortunately, there was limited power to examine individual anxiety disorders.14 Bramsen and colleagues15 measured predeployment personality traits in individuals involved in United Nations peace
