The associations of the Five Factor Model of personality with inflammatory biomarkers: A four-year prospective study

Social Safety Theory: Conceptual foundation, underlying mechanisms, and future directions

Classic theories of stress and health are largely based on assumptions regarding how different psychosocial stressors influence biological processes that, in turn, affect human health and behavior. Although theoretically rich, this work has yielded little consensus and led to numerous conceptual, measurement, and reproducibility issues. Social Safety Theory aims to address these issues by using the primary goal and regulatory logic of the human brain and immune system as the basis for specifying the social-environmental situations to which these systems should respond most strongly to maximize reproductive success and survival. This analysis gave rise to the integrated, multi-level formulation described herein, which transforms thinking about stress biology and provides a biologically based, evolutionary account for how and why experiences of social safety and social threat are strongly related to health, well-being, aging, and longevity. In doing so, the theory advances a testable framework for investigating the biopsychosocial roots of health disparities as well as how health-relevant biopsychosocial processes crystalize over time and how perceptions of the social environment interact with childhood microbial environment, birth cohort, culture, air pollution, genetics, sleep, diet, personality, and self-harm to affect health. The theory also highlights several interventions for reducing social threat and promoting resilience.

Association between personality and the risk of ischemic heart disease mortality before and after the Great East Japan Earthquake: Data from the Miyagi Cohort Study

BACKGROUND

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association between personality and the risk of IHD mortality among Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) survivors, and to investigate whether personality traits affected the increase in IHD mortality observed after the GEJE.

METHODS

We analyzed data for 29,065 men and women in the Miyagi Cohort Study who were 40-64 years old at baseline. We divided the participants into quartiles based on scores for each of the four personality subscales (extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism, and lie), using the Japanese version of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised Short Form. We divided the eight years before and after the GEJE event (11 March 2011) into two period, and examined the relationship between personality traits and the risk of IHD mortality. Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to estimate the multivariate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the risk of IHD mortality according to each personality subscale category.

RESULTS

In the four years before the GEJE, neuroticism was significantly associated with an increased risk of IHD mortality. Compared with the lowest category for neuroticism, the multivariate-adjusted HR (95% CI) for IHD mortality in the highest category was 2.19 (1.03-4.67) (p-trend = 0.12). In contrast, no statistically significant association between neuroticism and IHD mortality was observed in the four years after the GEJE.

CONCLUSION

This finding suggests that the observed increase in IHD mortality after the GEJE can be attributed to risk factors other than personality.

Network analysis of the associations between personality traits, cognitive functioning, and inflammatory markers in elderly individuals without dementia

Introduction

Lower cognitive functioning in old age has been associated with personality traits or systemic inflammatory markers. Associations have also been found between personality traits and inflammatory markers. However, no study has explored the inter-relationships between these three components simultaneously. The present study aims to better understand the inter-relationships among personality traits, inflammatory markers, and cognitive performance in elderly individuals without dementia.

Methods

This study utilizes a network analysis approach, a statistical method that allows visualization of the data's unique pairwise associations. We performed a cross-sectional analysis on 720 elderly individuals without dementia, using data from Colaus|PsyColaus, a population-based study conducted in Lausanne, Switzerland. The Revised NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI-R) was used to assess personality traits, and interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and C-reactive protein (CRP) were used as peripheral inflammatory markers. Cognitive domains were investigated using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Verbal Fluency Test, the Stroop Test, the DO40, and the Free and Cued Selective Reminding (FCSR) test.

Results

Openness was associated with verbal fluency and Agreeableness with immediate free recall. In contrast, no association between inflammatory markers and personality traits or cognition was identified.

Discussion

In elderly individuals without dementia, a high level of Openness or Agreeableness was associated with executive functioning/semantic memory and episodic memory, respectively.

Exploring the Links between Personality and Immune Function

Decades of research finds associations between personality traits and health. In recent years, it has become clear that the activities of the immune system play a key role in linking these variables. In the current work, we add to this research by exploring the relationship between Big Five personality traits and (Study 1) polymorphisms known to impact cytokine release and (Study 2) immunological parameters measured in vivo (differential white blood cell counts, plasma proinflammatory cytokine levels) and in vitro (proinflammatory cytokine release by peripheral blood mononuclear cells, Staphylococcus aureus growth in plasma). Results provide insights into potential mechanistic drivers of the link between personality and immune function and the possibility that, in some cases, relationships between personality and immune function may be sex differentiated.

Perfectionistic cognitions, Interleukin-6, and C-Reactive protein: A test of the perfectionism diathesis stress model

Previous research has demonstrated that perfectionism is implicated in poorer health and earlier mortality. However, to our knowledge, research has not yet determined how individual differences in perfectionistic cognitions are related to intermediary health markers such as inflammation. Thus, within the theoretical frameworks of the perfectionism diathesis-stress model (Hewitt and Flett, 1993) and the cognitive theory of perfectionism (Flett et al., 2018; Flett et al., 2016) the aims of our study were to test whether individual differences in perfectionistic cognitions were associated with low-grade inflammation via c-reactive CRP and IL-6 biomarkers and whether these relationships varied as a function perceived stress. The sample included 248 Canadian young adults (52% female, Mage ​= ​22.89, SD ​= ​1.53) who completed surveys assessing key constructs such as perfectionistic cognitions and perceived stress along with providing assessments of body fat percentage and serum samples of IL-6 and CRP. Regression analyses indicated that perfectionistic cognitions were not related to IL-6 under any conditions of stress. However, under high levels of stress perfectionistic cognitions were associated with elevated levels of CRP and these findings held after accounting for the effects of smoking status, body fat percentage, and respondent sex. The present work adds to the growing body of evidence supporting links between personality and inflammation. These findings raise the possibility that experiencing more frequent thoughts centered on the need to be perfect when coupled with higher levels of stress may set the stage for greater vulnerability for chronic inflammation.

•

Perfectionistic cognitions were related to elevated levels of CRP under high levels of perceived stress.

•

Perfectionistic cognitions were not related to CRP under low or moderate levels of perceived stress.

•

Perfectionistic cognitions were not related to IL-6 under any conditions of stress.

Vital personality scores and healthy aging: Life-course associations and familial transmission

OBJECTIVES

Personality traits are linked with healthy aging, but it is not clear how these associations come to manifest across the life-course and across generations. To study this question, we tested a series of hypotheses about (a) personality-trait prediction of markers of healthy aging across the life-course, (b) developmental origins, stability and change of links between personality and healthy aging across time, and (c) intergenerational transmission of links between personality and healthy aging. For our analyses we used a measure that aggregates the contributions of Big 5 personality traits to healthy aging: a "vital personality" score.

METHODS

Data came from two population-based longitudinal cohort studies, one based in New Zealand and the other in the UK, comprising over 6000 study members across two generations, and spanning an age range from birth to late life.

RESULTS

Our analyses revealed three main findings: first, individuals with higher vital personality scores engaged in fewer health-risk behaviors, aged slower, and lived longer. Second, individuals' vital personality scores were preceded by differences in early-life temperament and were relatively stable across adulthood, but also increased from young adulthood to midlife. Third, individuals with higher vital personality scores had children with similarly vital partners, promoted healthier behaviors in their children, and had children who grew up to have more vital personality scores themselves, for genetic and environmental reasons.

CONCLUSION

Our study shows how the health benefits associated with personality accrue throughout the life-course and across generations.

Neuroticism is positively associated with leptin/adiponectin ratio, leptin and IL-6 in young adults

High neuroticism is related to cardiovascular morbidity. Early detection of metabolic and cardiovascular risk is important in high-risk groups to enable preventive measures. The aim of this study was therefore to explore if neuroticism is associated with early biomarkers for cardiovascular and metabolic disease in young adults from a psychiatry cohort. Blood samples and self-ratings on neuroticism with the Swedish universities Scales of Personality (SSP) questionnaire were collected from 172 psychiatric outpatients and 46 healthy controls. The blood samples were analysed for plasma leptin, adiponectin, CRP, IL-6 and TNF-α. Associations between neuroticism and biomarkers were assessed using Spearman's correlation coefficients and generalized linear models adjusting for confounders. In the adjusted generalized linear models, neuroticism predicted the leptin/adiponectin ratio (p = 0.003), leptin (p = 0.004) and IL-6 (p = 0.001). These associations were not better explained by current major depressive disorder and/or anxiety disorder. Adiponectin, CRP and TNF-α were not associated with neuroticism. In conclusion, the findings suggest that high neuroticism is related to elevated levels of plasma leptin/adiponectin ratio, leptin and IL-6 in young adults. Young adults with high neuroticism may therefore benefit from preventive interventions to decrease the risk for future metabolic and cardiovascular morbidity, but more research is required to test this hypothesis.

Negative affect among daily smokers: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Negative Affect (NA), as a personality trait is a tendency towards experiencing a more negative emotion. The body of research suggests that NA encourages smoking relapse and smoking as a reason for NA reduction, though. The likelihood of this connection does not seem to be bright yet. The present study critically reviews researches to synthesize the existing literature to determine the strength of this linkage.

METHODS

Key-word related research was systematically searched in PubMed, PsychINFO, Science Direct and Google Scholar for studies conducted from 1980 to 2019, followed by, the assessment and selection of retrieved studies based on defined inclusion criteria. A random-effects meta-analysis model was used to examine the prospective relationship between NA and smoking. Meta-regression was also used to dig for possible explanations of heterogeneity. Furthermore a multi-moderators model and sub-group analyses examined the moderating factors.

RESULTS

Forty effect-sizes comprising 12 cross-sectional studies, 28 longitudinal studies and 24,913 participants were included in the meta-analysis. The forest plot of the pooled correlation effect size in the random model indicates a significant effect size of the relationship between NA and smoking (r = 0.11; 95%CI 0.071-0.15, P = 0.001) in the meta-analysis with high heterogeneity (Q = 473.916; df=39; P = 0.001; I²=91.77%). Also, the pooled effect size was obtained as 0.143 (95%CI 0.071-0.214) for light-to-moderate and 0.112 (95%CI 0.057-0.166) for moderate-to-heavy smokers, with the effect size ranging from 0.061 to 0.195 which was significant among all subtypes, though this trend seem higher among adolescents, males, and longitudinal studies than in adults, females, and cross-sectional studies.

LIMITATIONS

The review was limited to English articles, and the heterogeneity of the studies were high.

CONCLUSION

These results support the notion that NA was positively and weakly linked to smoking and this linkage is stronger in light-to-moderate smokers, males, and adolescents. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed with the aim of extending future directions on NA and smoking.

Temperament traits moderate the relationship between Childhood Trauma and Interleukin 1β profile in young adults

Early life stressors, such as childhood trauma, have been associated to alterations in immune response that can last until adulthood. In this context, interleukin 1β (IL-1β) emerges as a pro-inflammatory cytokine with a pivotal role. Also, considering the temperament differences in stress susceptibility, and even immune dysfunction, studies investigating the complex interaction between these factors are scarce. Thus, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the moderating role of temperament traits in the relationship between childhood trauma and serum IL-1β levels. This cross-sectional study consisted of 325 individuals, men and women, aged 18-35, enrolled from a population-based study in the city of Pelotas, Southern Brazil. Our main results indicate that higher serum levels of IL-1β were associated with trauma severity (p < 0.01), and the variance of anger could explain 29% of IL-1β increase in individuals who suffered severe trauma (p < 0.05). The effect of anger was considerably stronger in men than in women (46% and 25%, respectively). Moreover, the variance of sensitivity also explained 15% of IL-1β increase (p < 0.05) as well as the variance of volition explained 11% of IL-1β decrease (p < 0.05) in individuals who suffered severe trauma in the general population. Our results indicate that emotional individual differences can moderate the impact of childhood trauma on low-grade inflammation in young adults.

Maladaptive Personality Traits and 10-Year Course of Psychiatric and Medical Symptoms and Functional Impairment Following Trauma

Background

Personality is a major predictor of many mental and physical disorders, but its contributions to illness course are understudied.

Purpose

The current study aimed to explore whether personality is associated with a course of psychiatric and medical illness over 10 years following trauma.

Methods

World Trade Center (WTC) responders (N = 532) completed the personality inventory for DSM-5, which measures both broad domains and narrow facets. Responders' mental and physical health was assessed in the decade following the WTC disaster during annual monitoring visits at a WTC Health Program clinic. Multilevel modeling was used in an exploratory manner to chart the course of health and functioning, and examine associations of maladaptive personality domains and facets with intercepts (initial illness) and slopes (course) of illness trajectories.

Results

Three maladaptive personality domains-negative affectivity, detachment and psychoticism-were uniquely associated with initial posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); detachment and psychoticism were also associated with initial functional impairment. Five facets-emotional lability, anhedonia, callousness, distractibility and perceptual dysregulation-were uniquely associated with initial mental and physical health and functional impairment. Anxiousness and depressivity facets were associated with worse initial levels of psychiatric outcomes only. With regard to illness trajectory, callousness and perceptual dysregulation were associated with the increase in PTSD symptoms. Anxiousness was associated with greater persistence of respiratory symptoms.

Conclusions

Several personality domains and facets were associated with initial levels and long-term course of illness and functional impairment in a traumatized population. Results inform the role of maladaptive personality in the development and maintenance of chronic mental-physical comorbidity. Personality might constitute a transdiagnostic prognostic and treatment target.

Associations of Personality Traits With Chronic Low-Grade Inflammation in a Swiss Community Sample

Objective: Among the major dimensions of personality, high Neuroticism and low Conscientiousness have frequently been linked to worse health-related behaviors and poor health outcomes. However, studies on the association between personality traits and biomarkers of chronic low-grade inflammation reflecting increased morbidity and mortality risk are sparse; therefore, the aim of this study was to explore this association. Methods: A population-based Swiss sample of 2,182 persons (40-82 years, 42% men) completed a comprehensive personality questionnaire (NEO Five-Factor Inventory-Revised). Circulating levels of inflammatory markers, including C-reactive protein, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, and levels of the "cardioprotective" adipo(cyto)kine adiponectin were also determined. Analyses controlled for sociodemographic factors, traditional cardiovascular risk factors and lifetime psychiatric disorders using a validated semi-structured psychiatric interview. The role of gender as a moderator of the personality-inflammation link was additionally explored. Results: Controlling for all covariates, higher Extraversion (β = 0.092, 95%CI 0.004-0.180) was positively associated with higher IL-6 levels, and higher Conscientiousness (β = -0.095, 95%CI -0.180-[-0.009]) were significantly associated with lower IL-6 levels (all p-values < 0.05). Neuroticism and Agreeableness showed no significant association with any inflammatory biomarker. The associations between personality traits and inflammatory markers were not moderated by gender. Conclusions: Conscientiousness seems to be inversely related to chronic low-grade inflammation as measured by IL-6 levels, compatible with protection from the cardiovascular risk. The opposite may apply to Extraversion. Further research is needed to better understand the underlying mechanisms and their impact for health outcomes in the community.

The Life Skills of Older Americans: Association with Economic, Psychological, Social, and Health Outcomes

Studies of children and adolescents indicate that success in life is determined in part by attributes such as conscientiousness, emotional stability and sense of control, independently of childhood socioeconomic status and cognitive ability. Less is known about the role of these characteristics at older ages. This study investigated the relationship of five life skills - conscientiousness, emotional stability, persistence, optimism and sense of control - with a range of outcomes in 8,843 participants (mean age 72.57 years) in the Health and Retirement Study, a representative study of older Americans. More life skills were associated with greater wealth and income, better emotional wellbeing, stronger social relationships, less loneliness, better health, fewer chronic illnesses and impaired activities of daily living, better mobility and less obesity, after controlling for childhood socioeconomic status and current cognitive ability. Longitudinally, more life skills predicted emotional wellbeing, less loneliness and more prosocial behavior, better health and mobility over a 4 year period. Associations were independent of gender, ethnicity, family background, education and cognitive ability. The number of attributes was important rather than any single life skill. Life skills continue to matter at advanced ages, and fostering these characteristics in older adults may pay dividends in terms of later life health and wellbeing.

Physical activity mediates the association between personality and biomarkers of inflammation

Objectives:

The current study investigated whether personality traits and facets were associated with interleukin-6, C-reactive protein, and fibrinogen, and whether physical activity mediated the relationship between personality and biomarkers of inflammation.

Methods:

Personality was assessed in the Midlife Development in the United States study using the Multi-Dimensional Personality Questionnaire and Midlife Development Inventory personality scale. Data were included from 960 participants (mean age = 57.86 years, standard deviation = 11.46). Personality was assessed from 2004 to 2009. Serum levels of interleukin-6, fibrinogen, and C-reactive protein were assessed in 2005–2009 as part of the Midlife Development in the United States biomarkers subproject.

Results:

Lower neuroticism was associated with elevated interleukin-6, and achievement was associated with lower fibrinogen. Higher physical activity was associated with lower interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein. Mediation models suggested that physical activity mediated the associations between achievement and both interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein.

Discussion:

Physical activity is an important factor in the Health Behavior Model of personality and explains some of the associations between personality and inflammation. These findings contribute to the fields of aging and health by linking individual difference factors to markers of inflammation, and showing that these processes may function partially through specific behaviors, in this case physical activity.

Socioeconomic Status Interacts with Conscientiousness and Neuroticism to Predict Circulating Concentrations of Inflammatory Markers

BACKGROUND

Socioeconomic health disparities research may benefit from further consideration of dispositional factors potentially modifying risk associated with low socioeconomic status, including that indexed by systemic inflammation.

PURPOSE

This study was conducted to investigate interactions of SES and the Five-Factor Model (FFM) personality traits in predicting circulating concentrations of the inflammatory markers interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP).

METHOD

Using a sample of middle-aged and older adults from the Midlife in the United States Survey (MIDUS) biomarker project (N = 978), linear regression models tested interactions of each FFM trait with a composite measure of SES in predicting IL-6 and CRP, as well as the explanatory role of medical morbidity, measures of adiposity, and health behaviors.

RESULTS

SES interacted with conscientiousness to predict levels of IL-6 (interaction b = .03, p = .002) and CRP (interaction b = .04, p = .014) and with neuroticism to predict IL-6 (interaction b = -.03, p = .004). Socioeconomic gradients in both markers were smaller at higher levels of conscientiousness. Conversely, the socioeconomic gradient in IL-6 was larger at higher levels of neuroticism. Viewed from the perspective of SES as the moderator, neuroticism was positively related to IL-6 at low levels of SES but negatively related at high SES. Interactions of SES with both conscientiousness and neuroticism were attenuated upon adjustment for measures of adiposity.

CONCLUSIONS

Conscientiousness may buffer, and neuroticism amplify, excess inflammatory risk associated with low SES, in part through relationships with adiposity. Neuroticism may be associated with lower levels of inflammation at high levels of SES.

Five-factor model personality traits and inflammatory markers: new data and a meta-analysis

The purpose of this research is to examine the association between five major dimensions of personality and systemic inflammation through (a) new data on C-reactive protein (CRP) from three large national samples of adults that together cover most of the adult lifespan and (b) a meta-analysis of published studies on CRP and interleukin-6 (IL-6). New data (total N=26,305) were drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the Midlife in the United States study, and the Health and Retirement Study. PRISMA guidelines were used for the meta-analysis to combine results of up to seven studies on CRP (N=34,067) and six on IL-6 (N=7538). Across the three new samples, higher conscientiousness was associated with lower CRP. The conscientiousness-CRP relation was virtually identical controlling for smoking; controlling for body mass index attenuated this association but did not eliminate it. Compared to participants in the highest quartile of conscientiousness, participants in the lowest quartile had an up to 50% increased risk of CRP levels that exceeded the clinical threshold (≥3 mg/l). The meta-analysis supported the association between conscientiousness and both CRP and IL-6 and also suggested a negative association between openness and CRP; no associations were found for neuroticism, extraversion and agreeableness. The present work indicates a modest, but consistent, association between conscientiousness and a more favorable inflammatory profile, which may contribute to the role of conscientiousness in better health across the lifespan.