Please cite this article in press as: Jeronimus, B.F., Riese, H., If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it: Depressive traits are part and parcel of neuroticism revisited. Psychoneuroendocrinology (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.12.005 ARTICLE IN PRESS G Model PNEC-3145; No. of Pages 1 Psychoneuroendocrinology xxx (2015) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Psychoneuroendocrinology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/psyneuen Letter to the Editor If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it: Depressive traits are part and parcel of neuroticism revisited In their recent comment, Bianchi and Laurent (in press) crit- icized the internal validity of a study by DeSoto and Salinas (in press) on sex differences in the relationship between neuroticism and the activity of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, on base of their stipulation that neuroticism research requires a sys- tematic statistical control for depression—a déjà vu (cf. Bianchi and Laurent, in press). Since we applaud being consistent and persistent in science we highly regard their efforts but simultaneously want to repeat our prudence in this affair of “systematic adjustment” (Riese et al., 2015): Bianchi and Laurent’s advice could be potential misguiding to researchers because (i) depression is part and parcel of neuroticism (John et al., 2008; Ormel et al., 2013), and (ii) con- trolling for third factors should be grounded in a specific research question (e.g. the response by DeSoto, in press). We strongly advise against a systematic correction of neuroticism effects as it changes the nature of the effect (i.e. it is not whole neuroticism that now predicts); if something is not broken, don’t “fix” it (Riese et al., 2015). Author declaration We wish to confirm that there are no known conflicts of interest associated with this publication and there has been no significant financial support for this work that could have influenced its out- come. Signed by all authors as follows: Bertus F. Jeronimus. Harriëtte Riese. References Bianchi, R., Laurent, E., Levels and subtypes of depression should not be overlooked in research on neuroticism and cortisol. Psychoneuroendocrinology, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.08.029 (in press). Bianchi, R., Laurent, E., Depressive symptomatology should be systematically controlled for in neuroticism research. NeuroImage, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10. 1016/j.neuroimage.2015.07.088 (in press). http:/dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.08.030; DeSoto, M.C., Suppression of women’s cortisol variance: depression doesn’t mediate the sex difference. Psychoneuroendocrinology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.07.608; DeSoto, M.C., Salinas, M., Neuroticism and cortisol: the importance of checking for sex differences. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 62, 174–179. John, O.P., Robins, R., Pervin, L.A., 2008. Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research, 3rd ed. Guilford, New York. Ormel, J., Jeronimus, B.F., Kotov, R., Riese, H., Bos, E.E., Hankin, B., Rosmalen, J.G.M., 2013. Neuroticism and common mental disorders: meaning and utility of a complex relationship. Clin. Psychol. Rev. 33 (5), 686–697. Riese, H., Ormel, J., Aleman, A., Servaas, M.N., Jeronimus, B.F., 2015. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater: depressive traits are part and parcel of neuroticism. Neuroimage http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.11.012. Bertus F. Jeronimus * Harriëtte Riese University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Psychiatry, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation (ICPE), Hanzeplein 1, Groningen, 9713GZ, the Netherlands * Corresponding author. E-mail address: b.f.jeronimus@umcg.nl (B.F. Jeronimus) 30 November 2015 10 December 2015 Available online xxx http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.12.005 0306-4530/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.