TY - JOUR T1 - Personality associations with lung function and dyspnea: Evidence from six studies JF - Respiratory Medicine Y1 - 2023 A1 - Yannick Stephan A1 - Angelina R. Sutin A1 - Martina Luchetti A1 - Damaris Aschwanden A1 - Pauline Caille A1 - Antonio Terracciano KW - Dyspnea KW - lung function KW - Peak expiratory flow KW - Personality AB - Objective The present study examined the association between Five Factor Model personality traits and lung function and dyspnea. Methods Participants were middle aged and older adults aged 34–103 years old (N > 25,000) from the Midlife in the United States Study (MIDUS), the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), the National Health and Aging Trends Survey (NHATS), and the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study graduate (WLSG) and sibling (WLSS) samples. Data on peak expiratory flow (PEF), dyspnea, personality traits, smoking, physical activity, body mass index (BMI), emotional/psychiatric problems, and demographic factors were obtained in each sample. Results A meta-analysis indicated that higher neuroticism was related to lower PEF, higher risk of PEF less than 80% of predicted value, and higher risk of dyspnea. In contrast, higher extraversion and conscientiousness were associated with higher PEF, lower likelihood of PEF lower than 80% of the predicted value, and lower risk of dyspnea. Higher openness was related to higher PEF and lower risk of PEF less than 80%, whereas agreeableness was related to higher PEF and lower risk of dyspnea. Smoking, physical activity, BMI and emotional/psychiatric problems partially accounted for these associations. There was little evidence that lung disease moderated the association between personality and PEF and dyspnea. Conclusions Across cohorts, this study found replicable evidence that personality is associated with lung function and associated symptomatology. VL - 208 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Facets of conscientiousness and motoric cognitive risk syndrome JF - Journal of Psychiatric Research Y1 - 2022 A1 - Yannick Stephan A1 - Angelina R. Sutin A1 - Martina Luchetti A1 - Damaris Aschwanden A1 - Antonio Terracciano KW - cognitive complaint KW - Conscientiousness KW - motoric cognitive risk KW - walking speed AB - Conscientiousness is related to a lower risk of motoric cognitive risk syndrome (MCR), a pre-dementia syndrome characterized by slow gait speed and cognitive complaints. The present study examines which facets of conscientiousness are related to concurrent and incident MCR. Participants were dementia-free older adults aged 65–99 years (N = 6001) from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Baseline data on conscientiousness facets and MCR (cognitive complaints and gait speed) were collected in 2008/2010, along with the covariates: demographic factors, cognition, physical activity, disease burden, depressive symptoms, and body mass index (BMI). MCR was assessed again in 2012/2014 and 2016/2018. Controlling for demographic factors, higher industriousness was related to a nearly 30% lower likelihood of concurrent MCR (Odds Ratio [OR] = 0.75, 95%CI: 0.67–0.85, p < .001) and to about 60% reduced risk of incident MCR (Hazard ratio [HR] = 0.63, 95%CI: 0.56–0.71, p < .001). Self-control, order, and responsibility were also associated with a lower likelihood of concurrent (OR range: 0.82–0.88) and incident (HR range: 0.72–0.82) MCR. Traditionalism (HR = 0.84, 95%CI: 0.75–0.93, p < .01) and virtue (HR = 0.84, 95%CI: 0.75–0.93, p < .01) were related to a lower risk of incident MCR. Cognition, physical activity, disease burden, depressive symptoms, and BMI partially accounted for these associations. Industriousness is the facet of conscientiousness with the strongest association with risk of MCR. This facet could be targeted in interventions to reduce MCR and, ultimately, dementia. VL - 151 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Five-factor model personality traits and grip strength: Meta-analysis of seven studies JF - Journal of Psychosomatic Research Y1 - 2022 A1 - Yannick Stephan A1 - Angelina R. Sutin A1 - Brice Canada A1 - Maxime Deshayes A1 - Tiia Kekäläinen A1 - Antonio Terracciano KW - five-factor model KW - Grip strength KW - health KW - Neuroticism KW - Personality AB - Objective To examine the association between Five-Factor Model personality traits and grip strength. Method Adults aged 16 to 104 years old (N > 40,000) were from the Health and Retirement Study, the Midlife in the United States Study, The English Longitudinal Study of Aging, the National Health and Aging Trends Survey, the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Study, and the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study graduate and sibling samples. Participants had data on personality traits, demographic factors, grip strength, and mediators such as depressive symptoms, physical activity, body mass index (BMI), and c-reactive protein (CRP). Results Across all samples and a meta-analysis, higher neuroticism was related to lower grip strength (meta-analytic estimate: -0.07, 95%CI: −0.075; −0.056). Higher extraversion (0.04, 95%CI: 0.022; 0.060), openness (0.05, 95%CI: 0.032; 0.062), and conscientiousness (0.05, 95%CI: 0.04; 0.065) were associated with higher grip strength across most samples and the meta-analysis. Depressive symptoms were the most consistent mediators between neuroticism and grip strength. Depressive symptoms and physical activity partly mediated the associations with extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness. Lower CRP partly mediated the association with conscientiousness. Sex moderated the associations for extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness, with stronger associations among males. Age moderated the neuroticism association, with stronger associations among younger individuals. Conclusion This study provides replicable evidence that personality is related to grip strength and identifies potential moderators and mediators of these associations. Overall, higher neuroticism is a risk factor for low grip strength, whereas high extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness may be protective. VL - 160 ER -