Background and Purpose: Depression is a common mental disorder with widespread effects on quality of life. Meanwhile, traditional medicine theories point to the relationship between temperament and mental states. This study seeks to scientifically explain this relationship and identify temperaments that are more susceptible to depression. Using a comprehensive approach, this study reviews the concept of depression from the perspective of modern medicine and the foundations of temperament in traditional Iranian medicine, and examines the role of the four humors [blood (sanguine), yellow bile (chole), phlegm and black bile (melanchole)] and the four qualities (hotness, coldness, dryness and wetness) in determining mental health and making individuals susceptible to mood disorders. Materials and Methods: Using simple random sampling, 248 students were selected from among the students of Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were asked to fill out the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the MMQ questionnaire. SPSS software version 27 was used for data analysis and significance level was 0.05. Results: The obtained data show that among the demographic and temperament variables studied, only gender had a significant effect on depression (B = 0.942, Sig = 0.014). This finding indicates that the probability of depression in the female gender (according to the results of EXP(B) = 2.564) is about 2.56 times higher than male gender. Other variables including age, place of residence, field of study, level of education, and hot-cold and wet-dry temperaments did not show a statistically significant effect on depression (Sig > 0.05). Conclusion: These results, while confirming the role of gender in the prevalence of depression, raise challenges in confirming a direct and significant relationship between traditional temperaments and depression based on the statistical data of this study, indicating the complexity of these relationships and the need for further research with more comprehensive approaches.
Shokrizadeh M, Shojaei P, Shayesteh M. An investigation of the relationship between temperament types and depressive disorder. jiitm 2026; 16 (4) :279-290 URL: http://jiitm.ir/article-1-1822-en.html