Hostility, stress and symptoms of depression

In a non-clinical sample of traditional and non-traditional college students, neurotic hostility, which is a measure of the experience of anger, was a good predictor of symptoms of depression, whereas expressive hostility, which is a measure of the outward expression of anger, was a weak predictor. Stress was also associated with symptoms of depression, and neurotic hostility predicted more total stress and greater stress from interpersonal, personal competency, and cognitive Stressors, but not from environmental or varied Stressors than expressive hostility, which did not differ from low hostility. These findings were consistent with our recent characterizations of neurotic and expressive hostility in terms of associated traits within a comprehensive five-factor model of personality.