Collabra: Psychology (Aug 2020)
Is Healthy Neuroticism Associated with Chronic Conditions? A Coordinated Integrative Data Analysis
- Sara J. Weston,
- Eileen K. Graham,
- Nicholas A. Turiano,
- Damaris Aschwanden,
- Tom Booth,
- Fleur Harrison,
- Bryan D. James,
- Nathan A. Lewis,
- Steven R. Makkar,
- Swantje Mueller,
- Kristi M. Wisniewski,
- Tomiko Yoneda,
- Ruixue Zhaoyang,
- Avron Spiro,
- Johanna Drewelies,
- Gert G. Wagner,
- Elisabeth Steinhagen-Thiessen,
- Ilja Demuth,
- Sherry Willis,
- K. Warner Schaie,
- Martin Sliwinski,
- Richard A. Lipton,
- Mindy Katz,
- Ian J. Deary,
- Elizabeth M. Zelinski,
- David A. Bennett,
- Perminder S. Sachdev,
- Henry Brodaty,
- Julian N. Troller,
- David Ames,
- Margaret J. Wright,
- Denis Gerstorf,
- Mathias Allemand,
- Graciela Muniz-Terrera,
- Andrea M. Piccinin,
- Scott M. Hofer,
- Daniel K. Mroczek
Affiliations
- Sara J. Weston
- University of Oregon, Department of Psychology, Eugene, OR
- Eileen K. Graham
- Northwestern University, Department of Medical Social Sciences, Chicago, IL
- Nicholas A. Turiano
- West Virginia University, Department of Psychology and the West Virginia Prevention Research Center, Morgantown, WV
- Damaris Aschwanden
- Florida State University, Department of Geriatrics, Tallahassee, FL
- Tom Booth
- University of Edinburgh, Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, Department of Psychology, Edinburgh
- Fleur Harrison
- University of New South Wales, Centre for Healthy Brain Aging, Sydney NSW
- Bryan D. James
- Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL
- Nathan A. Lewis
- University of Victoria, Department of Psychology, Victoria, BC
- Steven R. Makkar
- University of New South Wales, Centre for Healthy Brain Aging, Sydney NSW
- Swantje Mueller
- Department of Psychology, University of Hamburg, Berlin; Department of Psychology, Humboldt University, Berlin
- Kristi M. Wisniewski
- University of Southern California, Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, Los Angeles, CA
- Tomiko Yoneda
- University of Victoria, Department of Psychology, Victoria, BC
- Ruixue Zhaoyang
- Center for Healthy Aging, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA
- Avron Spiro
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA; Boston University, Boston, MA
- Johanna Drewelies
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt University, Berlin
- Gert G. Wagner
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt University, Berlin
- Elisabeth Steinhagen-Thiessen
- German Institute for Economic Research, Berlin
- Ilja Demuth
- Charite – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
- Sherry Willis
- University of Washington, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Seattle, WA
- K. Warner Schaie
- Pennsylvania State University, Department of Human Development and Psychology, State College, PA
- Martin Sliwinski
- Center for Healthy Aging, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA
- Richard A. Lipton
- Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
- Mindy Katz
- Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
- Ian J. Deary
- University of Edinburgh, Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, Department of Psychology, Edinburgh, Scotland
- Elizabeth M. Zelinski
- University of Southern California, Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, Los Angeles, CA
- David A. Bennett
- Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL
- Perminder S. Sachdev
- University of New South Wales, Centre for Healthy Brain Aging, Sydney NSW
- Henry Brodaty
- University of New South Wales, Centre for Healthy Brain Aging, Sydney NSW
- Julian N. Troller
- University of New South Wales, Centre for Healthy Brain Aging, Sydney NSW; University of Melbourne Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age and National Ageing Research Institute, Kew and Parkville
- David Ames
- University of Melbourne Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age and National Ageing Research Institute, Kew and Parkville
- Margaret J. Wright
- University of Queensland, Queensland Brain Institute
- Denis Gerstorf
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt University, Berlin
- Mathias Allemand
- University of Zurich, Department of Psychology, Zurich
- Graciela Muniz-Terrera
- University of Edinburgh, Centre for Dementia Prevention, Edinburgh
- Andrea M. Piccinin
- University of Victoria, Department of Psychology, Victoria, BC
- Scott M. Hofer
- University of Victoria, Department of Psychology, Victoria, BC
- Daniel K. Mroczek
- University of Oregon, Department of Psychology, Eugene, OR; Northwestern University, Department of Psychology, Evanston, IL
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.267
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 6,
no. 1
Abstract
Early investigations of the neuroticism by conscientiousness interaction with regards to health have been promising, but to date, there have been no systematic investigations of this interaction that account for the various personality measurement instruments, varying populations, or aspects of health. The current study – the second of three – uses a coordinated analysis approach to test the impact of the neuroticism by conscientiousness interaction on the prevalence and incidence of chronic conditions. Using 15 pre-existing longitudinal studies (N > 49,375), we found that conscientiousness did not moderate the relationship between neuroticism and having hypertension (OR = 1.00,95%CI[0.98,1.02]), diabetes (OR = 1.02[0.99,1.04]), or heart disease (OR = 0.99[0.97,1.01]). Similarly, we found that conscientiousness did not moderate the prospective relationship between neuroticism and onset of hypertension (OR = 0.98[0.95,1.01]), diabetes (OR = 0.99[0.94,1.05]), or heart disease (OR = 0.98[0.94,1.03]). Heterogeneity of effect sizes was largely nonsignificant, with one exception, indicating that the effects are consistent between datasets. Overall, we conclude that there is no evidence that healthy neuroticism, operationalized as the conscientiousness by neuroticism interaction, buffers against chronic conditions.
Keywords