Objective: The aim of the study was to assess personality correlates of depressiveness as well as their relationships with the level of depressiveness.
Material and methods: The data on the depressiveness of 954 (452 boys and 502 girls) of ninth grade schoolchildren from 26 secondary schools of one administrative region of Lithuania were analyzed. The methods used in the study were Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory for Adolescents, and Composite International Diagnostic Interview.
Results: Twenty two schoolchildren (5 boys and 17 girls) with extremely high scores on Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Depression scale were found to have depression or dysthymia. It was found that depressive boys and girls (high scores on scores Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Depression scale) had higher scores on Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory clinical scales (except Mania scale, which was lower) as compared to the non-depressive ones. Girls with depressiveness, which corresponded to the level of depression or clinical dysthymia by Composite International Diagnostic Interview had higher scores on Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory clinical scales (except Mania scale, which was lower), as compared to the other girls (both depressive and non-depressive, as measured by Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Depression scale). Girls with depressiveness, which corresponded to the level of clinical depression or clinical dysthymia, also had worse psychological adjustment.
Conclusion: Depressive adolescents, boys and girls, differ from non-depressive ones by worse psychological adjustment. The level of depression did not differ from depressive girls (having high scores on Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Depression scale) in their non-adaptive personality characteristics, but markedly differed from that of other girls irrespective of theirs Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Depression scale scores.