Temperament synergies in risk for and protection against depressive symptoms: A prospective replication of a three-way interaction

High negative emotionality (NE), low positive emotionality (PE), and low effortful control (EC) are each associated with elevated depressive symptoms and each moderates the effects of the others. However, those 2-way interactions consistently emerge only at some levels of the third dimension. This NE × PE × EC interaction yields a “best two out of three” pattern in which low risk on any two dimensions overcomes high risk on the third. This study of 319 college students provides the first prospective test of this 3-way interaction. Results revealed the expected interaction predicting both concurrent symptoms and change in symptoms over a 7-week interval. Furthermore, its pattern closely matched past findings. Implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.