Objective:To investigate the personality traits of patients with anxious depression and the relationship between personality traits and clinical symptoms.Methods:From December 2011 to October 2014, 177 first-episode untreated patients with depression from the psychiatric department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University and 185 healthy controls(HC group) recruited by the community were included.All patients were divided into anxious depression group ( n=92) and non-anxious depression group ( n=85) according to whether the anxiety/somatization factor score ≥7.The simplified version of Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) and the Hamilton depression scale-17 (HAMD-17) were used to assess all the subjects.Statistical analyses were conducted in SPSS 21.0.Analysis of covariance was used to compare the differences of the scores on personality dimensions among the three groups.The relationship between personality dimensions and anxious depression was confirmed by Logistic regression, linear regression analysis and generalized linear models. Results:The differences of the scores on the four dimensions of neuroticism ( F=108.863, P<0.01), extraversion ( F=86.357, P<0.01), agreeableness ( F=50.615, P<0.01), and conscientiousness ( F=24.730, P<0.01) among the three groups were statistically significant.Further pairwise comparision showed, the score of neuroticisms was higher in the anxious depression group(43.05±8.92) and non-anxious depression group(39.85±7.21) than that in the HC group (30.16±6.25)( P<0.01, Bonferroni corrected). The scores of extroversion (31.22±6.33, 32.61±6.83), agreeableness (38.66±5.80, 39.46±6.19) and conscientiousness (39.75±6.89, 38.85±7.26) were lower in the anxious depression group and non-anxious depression group than those in the HC group (40.29±5.37, 44.79±4.68, 44.09±5.66, all P<0.01, Bonferroni corrected). The score of neuroticisms in anxious depression group was higher than that in non-anxious depression group, and the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.01, Bonferroni corrected). Logistic regression analysis with age, gender and years of education controlled showed that the score of neuroticism ( B=0.082, OR=1.085, 95% CI=1.020-1.154, P=0.009) and conscientiousness ( B=0.060, OR=1.062, 95% CI=1.006-1.120, P=0.028) were risk factors for anxiety symptoms in patients with depression.Linear regression analysis showed that the scores on neuroticism had positive predictive effects on the anxiety/somatization factor score ( B=0.055, 95% CI=0.021-0.089, P=0.002) and cognitive impairment factor score ( B=0.074, 95% CI=0.023-0.125, P=0.005) in the anxious depression group. Conclusion:Compared to non-anxious depression, patients with anxious depression show higher level of neuroticism, and the level of neuroticism can positively predict the symptoms of anxiety and cognitive impairment.The high level of neuroticism and conscientiousness may be risk factors for the occurrence of anxiety symptoms in patients with depressed.