Abstract
Personality pathology is associated with impaired social functioning in adults, though further evidence is needed to examine the individual contributions of personality traits and processes to social functioning in depressed older adults. This study is a secondary analysis examining the relationship between maladaptive personality traits and processes and social role impairment in depressed older adults in primary care (N=56). Participants were 77% female and ranged in age between 55–89 (M = 66.82, SD = 8.75). Personality pathology was measured both by maladaptive traits (NEO-FFI) and processes (Inventory of Interpersonal Problems; IIP-15). Individual variable as well as combined predictive models of social role impairment were examined. Higher neuroticism (β = 0.30, p <.05), lower agreeableness (β = -0.35 p<.001) and higher IIP-15 (β = 0.28, p<.01) scores predicted greater impairment in social role functioning. Categorical analyses of these variables found significant differences in social role functioning between individuals with high and low levels of agreeableness (p = .05) and IIP-15 scores (p <.01). All moderation analyses were non-significant, but a combined predictive model of neuroticism and IIP-15 scores predicted unique variance in social role impairment (R(2)= .71). These findings highlight the importance of accounting for personality pathology, as measured by both traits and processes, in the assessment and treatment of older adults with depression. In addition, these findings lend support for continued research into both linear and non-linear relationships between personality pathology and domains of functional impairment in older adults.