Extraversion personality, perceived health and activity participation among community-dwelling aging adults in Hong Kong

Role of personality traits in determining the association between social participation and mental health: A cross-sectional study in Japan

The role of personality in determining the association between social participation and mental health was examined by a cross-sectional study. We analyzed data from 4981 older adults aged 65-84 years who were recruited via a mail survey in one region of Japan. We defined poor mental health using a score ≤12 points on the World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index-Japanese. Personality traits were measured by 10 Item Personality Inventory-Japanese. In women, higher openness positively moderated the association between private group participation (volunteering, sports, hobby, and learning) and mental health, while higher neuroticism negatively moderated it. This study contributes to knowledge about mental health, personality, and participation. The findings provide provisional evidence about recommending private group participation for women with high openness but not those with high neuroticism.

Personality and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of Hong Kong Chinese older people: resilience as a mediator and financial status as a moderator

Objectives: Personality can influence older adults' health and quality of life. However, the pathways are relatively less examined. This study aimed to understand the mediating effect of resilience in the relationship between two personality traits-neuroticism and extraversion-and Hong Kong Chinese older adults' health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Whether such effect varied across older adults in different financial conditions were also examined. Method: A purposive non-probability sample of 253 Hong Kong Chinese older adults aged 60 and above was recruited for a face-to-face questionnaire survey. Neuroticism and extraversion were measured using the subscales form the Big Five Inventory (BFI). Resilience was measured by the 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). HRQoL was measured by the short-form 8 (SF- 8). Path analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between key variables. Multi-group path analysis was also performed to investigate whether the pathways differed by financial status. Indirect effects were computed in the path analyses to detect the mediatory role of resilience between personalities and HRQoL.Results: The findings included that after controlling for confounders, neuroticism, but not extraversion was significantly associated with HRQoL. The relationships were mediated by resilience. Moreover, the mediating role of resilience is more pronounced among the participants who live in a financially poor or fair condition, comparing to their wealthier peers.Conclusion: This study confirmed the important role of personality in shaping older adults' resilience and quality of life. Personality should be kept in mind in the identification of potential vulnerable groups for interventions, especially those in financial hardships who may face double disadvantages.

Associations between MDMA/ecstasy use and physical health in a U.S. population-based survey sample

INTRODUCTION

3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA/"ecstasy") is an empathogen that can give rise to increased pleasure and empathy and may effectively treat post-traumatic stress disorder. Although prior research has demonstrated associations between ecstasy use and favorable mental health outcomes, the associations between ecstasy and physical health have largely been unexplored. Thus, the goal of this study was to examine the associations between ecstasy use and physical health in a population-based survey sample.

METHOD

This study utilized data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2005-2018), a yearly survey that collects information on substance use and health outcomes in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults. We used multinomial, ordered, and logistic regression models to test the associations between lifetime ecstasy use and various markers of physical health (self-reported body mass index, overall health, past year heart condition and/or cancer, past year heart disease, past year hypertension, and past year diabetes), controlling for a range of potential confounders.

RESULTS

Lifetime ecstasy use was associated with significantly lower risk of self-reported overweightness and obesity (adjusted relative risk ratio range: 0.55-0.88) and lower odds of self-reported past year heart condition and/or cancer (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 0.67), hypertension (aOR: 0.85), and diabetes (aOR: 0.58). Ecstasy use was also associated with significantly higher odds of better self-reported overall health (aOR: 1.18).

CONCLUSION

Ecstasy shares protective associations with various physical health markers. Future longitudinal studies and clinical trials are needed to more rigorously test these associations.

Age and extraversion differences in heart rate reactivity during working memory tasks

Research and theory have shown a link between heart rate reactivity during cognitive testing and extraversion in younger adults; however, similar work has not been conducted with older adults. This study was designed to explore age and extraversion-related differences in within-person heart rate (HR) reactivity during two working memory tasks of varying difficulty using a multi-level modeling approach. Across 570 total within-person assessments of continuous HR monitoring, 28 younger adults (M = 19.76, SD = 1.15) and 29 older adults (M = 71.19, SD = 6.63) were administered two working memory tasks (backward digit span and n-back). There were no age differences in reactivity during the backward digit span. However, similar to previous findings, on the more difficult n-back task, younger adults low in extraversion showed a trend toward higher HR reactivity than young adults high in extraversion. Interestingly, the older adults showed the opposite pattern in that lower extraversion older adults were less reactive than the higher extraversion older adults who showed the steepest increase in HR. The HR increase of the older adults high in extraversion may be an indication of higher engagement in this more difficult task. Individual differences in extraversion need to be taken into account when administering working memory tasks in older adults.

Correction: Extraversion personality, perceived health and activity participation among community-dwelling aging adults in Hong Kong

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0209154.].