Personality, disability-free life years, and life expectancy: Individual participant meta-analysis of 131,195 individuals from 10 cohort studies

Reporting heterogeneity in the associations between personality and health problems: Anchoring self-reports with health vignettes

Associations between personality and self-reported health problems may be biased by reporting heterogeneity, that is, tendency to rate the severity of the same health problem differently. This study used hypothetical health vignettes to examine the magnitude of such heterogeneity. Participants were from Health and Retirement Study (HRS; n = 3950; mean age 65 years, range from 30 to 97) and Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS; n = 8664; mean age 64 years, range from 34 to 87). Personality traits of the Five Factor Model (extraversion, emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience) were only weakly associated with vignette ratings (rs < 0.10). Associations between personality and self-reported health problems were not substantially changed when the thresholds of self-reported severity were allowed to vary by personality, based on the participants' ratings of the vignettes. Reporting heterogeneity does not appear to be a major source of bias in the associations between personality traits and self-reported health problems.

Diligent for better or worse: Conscientiousness is associated with higher likelihood of suicidal behavior and more severe suicidal intent in later life

BACKGROUND

Contradictory findings link trait conscientiousness in mid- and late life to increased healthspan and lifespan, as well as to death by suicide. It remains unclear whether conscientiousness is associated with higher odds of attempting suicide or with more severe suicidal behavior among attempters, and whether its relationship to suicide risk varies with aging-related stressors, such as declining health.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study comprising 313 depressed adults aged ≥40 years and participating in the Longitudinal Research Program in Late-Life Suicide (Pittsburgh, USA), we employed logistic and linear regression to test whether conscientiousness was associated with the presence of recent suicidal behavior (≤2 years) and with intent severity in recent attempters (n = 84). We further tested whether the above relationships varied based on mental, cognitive, and physical health status, measured as depression severity, cognitive functioning, and the presence/absence of severe physical illness.

RESULTS

Participants were 62.1 years old on average (SD = 7.6), 85% White, and 53% female. Recent attempters had a mean age of 61.8 years at their most recent attempt (SD = 8.5), had lower cognitive functioning and were more likely severely physically ill than comparisons. Conscientiousness was positively associated with a higher likelihood of recent suicidal behavior overall (adjusted OR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.09, 1.90, p = .010), but not in case of co-occurring severe physical illness (interaction OR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.30, 0.97, p = .039). Conscientiousness was also positively associated with suicidal intent at the most recent attempt (adjusted β = 1.60, SE = 0.62, p = .012), explaining 7% of its variance, although this association lost significance after adjusting for other personality dimensions.

CONCLUSIONS

Highly conscientious middle-aged and older adults may be at increased risk of resolute suicidal behavior, although conscientiousness may not confer additional suicide risk among those severely physically ill.

Neuroticism/negative emotionality is associated with increased reactivity to uncertain threat in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, not the amygdala

Neuroticism/Negative Emotionality (N/NE)-the tendency to experience anxiety, fear, and other negative emotions-is a fundamental dimension of temperament with profound consequences for health, wealth, and wellbeing. Elevated N/NE is associated with a panoply of adverse outcomes, from reduced socioeconomic attainment to psychiatric illness. Animal research suggests that N/NE reflects heightened reactivity to uncertain threat in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) and central nucleus of the amygdala (Ce), but the relevance of these discoveries to humans has remained unclear. Here we used a novel combination of psychometric, psychophysiological, and neuroimaging approaches to rigorously test this hypothesis in an ethnoracially diverse, sex-balanced sample of 220 emerging adults selectively recruited to encompass a broad spectrum of N/NE. Cross-validated robust-regression analyses demonstrated that N/NE is preferentially associated with heightened BST activation during the uncertain anticipation of a genuinely distressing threat (aversive multimodal stimulation), whereas N/NE was unrelated to BST activation during certain-threat anticipation, Ce activation during either type of threat anticipation, or BST/Ce reactivity to threat-related faces. It is often assumed that different threat paradigms are interchangeable assays of individual differences in brain function, yet this has rarely been tested. Our results revealed negligible associations between BST/Ce reactivity to the anticipation of threat and the presentation of threat-related faces, indicating that the two tasks are non-fungible. These observations provide a framework for conceptualizing emotional traits and disorders; for guiding the design and interpretation of biobank and other neuroimaging studies of psychiatric risk, disease, and treatment; and for informing mechanistic research.

Application of causal inference methods in individual-participant data meta-analyses in medicine: addressing data handling and reporting gaps with new proposed reporting guidelines

Observational data provide invaluable real-world information in medicine, but certain methodological considerations are required to derive causal estimates. In this systematic review, we evaluated the methodology and reporting quality of individual-level patient data meta-analyses (IPD-MAs) conducted with non-randomized exposures, published in 2009, 2014, and 2019 that sought to estimate a causal relationship in medicine. We screened over 16,000 titles and abstracts, reviewed 45 full-text articles out of the 167 deemed potentially eligible, and included 29 into the analysis. Unfortunately, we found that causal methodologies were rarely implemented, and reporting was generally poor across studies. Specifically, only three of the 29 articles used quasi-experimental methods, and no study used G-methods to adjust for time-varying confounding. To address these issues, we propose stronger collaborations between physicians and methodologists to ensure that causal methodologies are properly implemented in IPD-MAs. In addition, we put forward a suggested checklist of reporting guidelines for IPD-MAs that utilize causal methods. This checklist could improve reporting thereby potentially enhancing the quality and trustworthiness of IPD-MAs, which can be considered one of the most valuable sources of evidence for health policy.

Application of Causal Inference Methods to Pooled Longitudinal Non- Randomized Studies: A Methodological Systematic Review

Observational data provide invaluable real-world information in medicine, but certain methodological considerations are required to derive causal estimates. In this systematic review, we evaluated the methodology and reporting quality of individual-level patient data meta-analyses (IPD-MAs) published in 2009, 2014, and 2019 that sought to estimate a causal relationship in medicine. We screened over 16,000 titles and abstracts, reviewed 45 full-text articles out of the 167 deemed potentially eligible, and included 29 into the analysis. Unfortunately, we found that causal methodologies were rarely implemented, and reporting was generally poor across studies. Specifically, only three of the 29 articles used quasi-experimental methods, and no study used G-methods to adjust for time-varying confounding. To address these issues, we propose stronger collaborations between physicians and methodologists to ensure that causal methodologies are properly implemented in IPD-MAs. In addition, we put forward a suggested checklist of reporting guidelines for IPD-MAs that utilize causal methods. This checklist could improve reporting thereby potentially enhancing the quality and trustworthiness of IPD-MAs, which can be considered one of the most valuable sources of evidence for health policy.

Agreeableness and Its Consequences: A Quantitative Review of Meta-Analytic Findings

Agreeableness impacts people and real-world outcomes. In the most comprehensive quantitative review to date, we summarize results from 142 meta-analyses reporting effects for 275 variables, which represent N > 1.9 million participants from k > 3,900 studies. Arranging variables by their content and type, we use an organizational framework of 16 conceptual categories that presents a detailed account of Agreeableness’ external relations. Overall, the trait has effects in a desirable direction for 93% of variables (grand mean [Formula: see text]). We also review lower order trait evidence for 42 variables from 20 meta-analyses. Using these empirical findings, in tandem with existing theory, we synthesize eight general themes that describe Agreeableness’ characteristic functioning across variables: self-transcendence, contentment, relational investment, teamworking, work investment, lower results emphasis, social norm orientation, and social integration. We conclude by discussing potential boundary conditions of findings, contributions and limitations of our review, and future research directions.

Research on the prediction of longevity from both individual and family perspectives

Increasing human longevity is of global interest. The present study explored the prediction of longevity from both individual perspective and family perspective based on demographic and psychosocial factors. A total of 186 longevous family members and 237 ordinary elderly family members participated in a cross-sectional study, and a sample of 62 longevous elderly and 57 ordinary elderly were selected for comparative research. The results showed that it was three times more female than male in longevous elderly group. Up to 71.2% of longevous elderly had no experience in education, which was significantly lower than that of ordinary elderly. Due to such extreme age, more widowed (81.4%) elderly than those in married (18.6%). Less than one-seventh of the longevous elderly maintained the habit of smoking, and about one-third of them liked drinking, both were significantly lower than that of ordinary elderly. In terms of psychosocial factors, longevous elderly showed lower neuroticism and social support, while higher extraversion, compared with the ordinary elderly. However, there were no significant differences between the two family groups in demographic and psychosocial variables, except longevous families showing lower scores in neuroticism. Regression analysis found that neuroticism, social support and smoking habit had significant impact on individuals’ life span, then, neuroticism and psychoticism were the key factor to predict families’ longevity. We conclude that good emotional management, benign interpersonal support, and moderation of habits are important factors for individual longevity, and the intergenerational influence of personality is closely related to family longevity.

Neuroticism and Risk of Parkinson's Disease: A Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

Neuroticism is linked to mood disorders and Alzheimer's disease, but fewer studies have tested the prospective association with Parkinson's disease (PD).

OBJECTIVES

To examine the association between neuroticism and risk of PD in a large cohort and a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.

METHODS

Participants from the UK Biobank (N = 490,755) completed a neuroticism scale in 2006-2010. Incident PD was ascertained using electronic health records or death records up to 2018. The systematic search and meta-analysis followed the MOOSE guidelines.

RESULTS

During 11.91 years of follow-up (mean = 8.88 years; 4,360,105 person-years) 1142 incident PD cases were identified. Neuroticism was associated with higher risk of incident PD, both as continuous (HR = 1.28; 95% CI: 1.21-1.36) and categorical variable (top vs. bottom quartiles: HR = 1.88; 95% CI: 1.60-2.22). The association remained significant after accounting for age, sex, smoking, physical activity, anxiety, and depressed mood, and after excluding cases that occurred within the first 5 years of follow-up. The associations were similar for women and men and across levels of socioeconomic status. Random-effect meta-analysis of four prospective studies (N = 548,284) found neuroticism associated with increased risk of incident PD (HR = 1.82; 95% CI: 1.59-2.08; P = 7.31-19 ). There was no evidence of heterogeneity across studies with follow-ups ranging from one to four decades.

CONCLUSION

The results from the large UK Biobank and meta-analysis of prospective studies indicate that neuroticism is consistently associated with a higher risk of incident PD. © 2021 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

The impact of childhood lead exposure on adult personality: Evidence from the United States, Europe, and a large-scale natural experiment

Childhood lead exposure has devastating lifelong consequences, as even low-level exposure stunts intelligence and leads to delinquent behavior. However, these consequences may be more extensive than previously thought because childhood lead exposure may adversely affect normal-range personality traits. Personality influences nearly every aspect of human functioning, from well-being to career earnings to longevity, so effects of lead exposure on personality would have far-reaching societal consequences. In a preregistered investigation, we tested this hypothesis by linking historic atmospheric lead data from 269 US counties and 37 European nations to personality questionnaire data from over 1.5 million people who grew up in these areas. Adjusting for age and socioeconomic status, US adults who grew up in counties with higher atmospheric lead levels had less adaptive personality profiles: they were less agreeable and conscientious and, among younger participants, more neurotic. Next, we utilized a natural experiment, the removal of leaded gasoline because of the 1970 Clean Air Act, to test whether lead exposure caused these personality differences. Participants born after atmospheric lead levels began to decline in their county had more mature, psychologically healthy adult personalities (higher agreeableness and conscientiousness and lower neuroticism), but these findings were not discriminable from pure cohort effects. Finally, we replicated associations in Europeans. European participants who spent their childhood in areas with more atmospheric lead were less agreeable and more neurotic in adulthood. Our findings suggest that further reduction of lead exposure is a critical public health issue.

Positive affect state is a good predictor of movement and stress: combining data from ESM/EMA, mobile HRV measurements and trait questionnaires

Personality describes the average behaviour and responses of individuals across situations; but personality traits are often poor predictors of behaviour in specific situations. This is known as the "personality paradox". We evaluated the interrelations between various trait and state variables in participants' everyday lives. As state measures, we used 1) experience sampling methodology (ESM/EMA) to measure perceived affect, stress, and presence of social company; and 2) heart rate variability and 3) real-time movement (accelerometer data) to indicate physiological stress and physical movement. These data were linked with self-report measures of personality and personality-like traits. Trait variables predicted affect states and multiple associations were found: traits neuroticism and rumination decreased positive affect state and increased negative affect state. Positive affect state, in turn, was the strongest predictor of observed movement. Positive affect was also associated with heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV). Negative affect, in turn, was not associated with neither movement, HR or HRV. The study provides evidence on the influence of personality-like traits and social context to affect states, and, in turn, their influence to movement and stress variables.