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The Nature, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Neuroticism Research-Article5055322013 CPXXXX10.1177/2167702613505532Barlow et al.The Nature, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Neuroticism 505532research-article2013 Theoretical/Methodological/Review Article Clinical Psychological Science 2014, Vol. 2(3) 344 –365 The Nature, Diagnosis, and Treatment of © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav Neuroticism: Back to the Future DOI: 10.1177/2167702613505532 cpx.sagepub.com David H. Barlow1, Shannon Sauer-Zavala1, Jenna R. Carl1, Jacqueline R. Bullis1, and Kristen K. Ellard2,3 1Department of Psychology, Boston University; 2Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; and 3Harvard Medical School Abstract We highlight the role of neuroticism in the development and course of emotional disorders and make a case for shifting the focus of intervention to this higher-order dimension of personality. Recent decades have seen great emphasis placed on differentiating disorders into Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders diagnoses; however, evidence has suggested that splitting disorders into such fine categories may be highlighting relatively trivial differences. Emerging research on the latent structure of anxiety and mood disorders has indicated that trait neuroticism, cultivated through genetic, neurobiological, and psychological factors, underscores the development of these disorders. We raise the possibility of a new approach for conceptualizing these disorders—as emotional disorders. From a service-delivery point of view, we explore the possibility that neuroticism may be more malleable than previously thought and may possibly be amenable to direct intervention. The public-health implications of directly treating and even preventing the development of neuroticism would be substantial. Keywords anxiety disorders, temperament/personality and psychopathology, comorbidity Received 7/8/13; Revision accepted 8/13/13 Throughout history, philosophers and researchers have as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of attempted to understand the nature of anxiety and its Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5; American Psychiatric disorders. As early as 450 BC, the relationship between Association, APA, 2013) to a broader understanding of an individual’s discrete emotions in response to stressors emotional or internalizing disorders. In particular, we and his or her enduring proclivity for such experiences seek to call attention to higher-order temperamental fac- was of interest. For example, the Roman philosopher tors that may be a more appropriate target for assessment Cicero proposed a theory of emotion that distinguished and intervention than may symptom-level manifestations between the temporary emotional state of anxiety (angor) of these traits. Although relevant higher-order tempera- and the enduring tendency to experience anxiety (anxi- mental dimensions associated with the experience of fre- etas; Lewis, 1970). Furthermore, in perhaps one of the quent and intense negative emotions have acquired a best-known historical conceptualizations of anxiety, number of labels, we focus on the construct of “neuroti- Freud (1924) distinguished between objective anxiety cism” as the first (Eysenck, 1947) and still most popular signaling the presence of an immediate threat (e.g., a (Lahey, 2009) conception of this trait. loaded gun pressed to the temple) and neurotic anxiety Neuroticism is typically defined as the tendency to generated when an individual’s defense mechanisms are experience frequent and intense negative emotions in no longer able to successfully repress an early traumatic experience, which results in a persistent state of distress Corresponding Author: (Reiss, 1997). In this article, we review a variety of David H. Barlow, Department of Psychology, Boston University, 648 research areas with the purpose of shifting focus from Beacon St., 6th Floor, Boston, MA 02215 the study of discrete anxiety, mood, and related disorders E-mail: [email protected] The Nature, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Neuroticism 345 response to various sources of stress. These negative “splitting” approach to nosology ensured high rates emotions are usually broadly construed to include anxi- of diagnostic reliability, there is evidence that it may ety, fear, irritability, anger, sadness, and so forth, but the have come at the expense of validity; in other words, greatest focus has been on the experience of anxious or the current diagnostic system may be overemphasizing depressive mood. Accompanying this exaggerated nega- categories that are minor variations of a broader underly- tive emotionality is the pervasive perception that the ing syndrome (T. A. Brown & Barlow, 2005, 2009). world is a dangerous and threatening place, along with Neuroticism, combined with other temperamental vari- beliefs about one’s inability to manage or cope with chal- ables, likely represents this syndrome. lenging events. These beliefs often are manifested in Despite the marked emphasis during the past 30 years terms of heightened focus on criticism, either self-gener- on discrete DSM-based categories of emotional disorders ated or from others, as confirming a general sense of and their treatment, a few investigators have continued to inadequacy and perceptions of lack of control over focus attention on the existence and salience of broader salient events (Barlow, 2002; L. A. Clark & Watson, 2008; underlying syndromes. For example, Andrews (1990) and Eysenck, 1947; Goldberg, 1993). Tyrer (1989) each argued for the existence of a “general The label neuroticism was first used by Eysenck neurotic syndrome” as a more parsimonious and heuris- (1947) to describe this statistically derived personality tic account of emotional disorders. In addition, Lahey trait; Eysenck coined the term after the commonly used (2009), summarizing the growing evidence for the pub- clinical label at that time: neurosis—the early DSM cate- lic-health significance of neuroticism, documented that gory comprising people with anxiety, depression, and neuroticism is strongly associated with and predicts many related disorders. Building on earlier work by Slater different mental and physical disorders, as well as treat- (1943), who used the term neurotic constitution, Eysenck, ment seeking for not only mental disorders but also gen- no fan of things Freudian even in the 1940s, regretted eral health services. Indeed, he underscored evidence employing this term and noted that “it would no doubt that neuroticism may act as a salient predictor of the be preferable in some ways to use a more neutral kind of quality and longevity of our lives. Lahey called for a more label” (p. 49). Nevertheless, he made it clear that indi- substantial focus on the nature and origins of neuroticism viduals with the diagnosis of neurosis occupied the path- and the mechanisms through which this trait is linked to ological extreme of the personality trait of neuroticism. both mental and physical disorders. Moreover, Cuijpers et Eysenck also noted, in a prescient bit of writing, that al. (2010) examined the economic cost of the trait of neu- these two constructs could be relatively independent and roticism and found, in a large representative sample of that “some so called ‘neurotic’ inmates (of a hospital) the Dutch population, that these economic costs were show very little evidence of the ‘neurotic constitution’ enormous and exceeded costs of common mental disor- and would likely be situated rather towards the normal ders. Cuijpers et al. noted that “we should start thinking end of the distribution” (p. 48). He went on to theorize about interventions that focus not on each of the specific that these individuals would have been subjected to negative outcomes of neuroticism but rather on the start- extreme life stress, whereas individuals high on the trait ing point itself” (p. 1086). of neuroticism would require relatively little life stress to The current review begins with a section highlighting trigger neurosis, thereby clearly presaging the stress-dia- commonalities among the emotional disorders, including thesis model of psychopathology. high rates of comorbidity, broad rather than narrow treat- Although the study of trait or temperament models of ment responsiveness among comorbid disorders, and anxiety and related negative emotions has continued for shared neurobiological mechanisms. Next, we present decades, this literature has had decreasing influence on the emerging research on the latent structure of emo- nosological schemes. DSM-III (3rd ed.; APA, 1980) repre- tional disorders that may underlie these observed com- sented the advent of an objective, empirically based clas- monalities followed by a brief description of theoretical sification system for mental disorders; patients previously accounts of the origins of neuroticism or trait anxiety. receiving a diagnosis of neurosis were now classified The following section describes common functional rela- more narrowly into specific anxiety, depressive, and tionships in emotional disorders, particularly among related disorders. These new discrete diagnostic catego- emotional expression, negative appraisals under stress, ries indeed had a meaningful impact on the development and avoidance, as well as new approaches to conceptual- of pharmacological and individual psychological treat- izing these disorders and suggests the possibility of more ments, particularly for anxiety and mood disorders (e.g., satisfying dimensional nosological and assessment Barlow et al., 1984). This approach allowed for the devel- schemes.
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