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Five-factor model personality traits and 24-h urinary cortisol in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.

ABSTRACT: Stress is implicated in models of personality and health as a mechanism that explains why traits like conscientiousness and neuroticism are associated with long-term health outcomes. Evidence for an association between personality and cortisol, a biological marker of stress, however, has been inconsistent. This study examined the association between Five-Factor Model personality traits and 24-h urinary cortisol (operationalised as a ratio of urinary free cortisol to creatinine) measured up to 12 times over intervals as long as 30 years in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (M_age = 61.21, SD = 15.46; 49% female). There was a modest association between conscientiousness and lower mean-level cortisol that was attenuated only slightly in the fully-adjusted model. Neuroticism and the other traits were unrelated to cortisol levels, and none of the traits was related to cortisol change over time. The null association for neuroticism suggests that its relation with long-term health may be primarily through pathways other than cortisol. The modest association between conscientiousness and 24-h urinary cortisol replicates a previous finding with a longer-term measure of cortisol measured from hair, which calls for more research on the robustness and replicability of this finding. Cortisol may be one pathway through which conscientiousness is associated with health outcomes.

SUBMITTER: Sutin AR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9339027 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Five-factor model personality traits and 24-h urinary cortisol in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.

Sutin Angelina R AR Moffat Scott D SD Resnick Susan M SM Ferrucci Luigi L Aschwanden Damaris D Sesker Amanda A AA Luchetti Martina M Terracciano Antonio A

Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress 20220220 4

Stress is implicated in models of personality and health as a mechanism that explains why traits like conscientiousness and neuroticism are associated with long-term health outcomes. Evidence for an association between personality and cortisol, a biological marker of stress, however, has been inconsistent. This study examined the association between Five-Factor Model personality traits and 24-h urinary cortisol (operationalised as a ratio of urinary free cortisol to creatinine) measured up to 12 ...[more]

PMID: 35099848

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Project description:BackgroundFive-factor model (FFM) personality traits have been associated consistently with risk of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). Less is known about how these traits are associated with functioning in specific domains of cognitive function in older adulthood.MethodsParticipants (N = 2865) were drawn from the 2016 Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol sub-study of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Participants completed a battery of cognitive tasks that measured performance in five domains: Memory (eight tasks), speed-attention-executive (five tasks), visuospatial ability (three tasks), fluency (one task), and numeric reasoning (one task). Participants completed an FFM personality measure as part of the regular HRS assessment in either 2014 or 2016. Linear regression was used to examine the association between the traits and each cognitive task and composite scores for the five domains, controlling for age, sex, race, ethnicity, and education. We also tested whether the associations were moderated by these sociodemographic factors or mental status.ResultsNeuroticism was associated with worse performance on all of the cognitive tasks. Conscientiousness was associated with better performance across all five cognitive domains, although not necessarily with every task. Openness and Agreeableness were associated with better performance in all domains, except for numeric reasoning. Extraversion was associated with better speed-attention-executive and fluency. There was no robust evidence that the association between personality and cognition was moderated by sociodemographic characteristics or global cognitive function.ConclusionsPersonality traits have pervasive associations with functioning across five cognitive domains. Consistent with the literature on personality and risk of ADRD, Neuroticism and Conscientiousness were associated with cognitive performance in the expected direction in all domains. Extraversion was the only trait that showed domain-specific associations. The present research supports models of personality and health in the context of cognition and suggests that personality is associated with intermediate markers of cognitive health.

Dataset Information

Five-factor model personality traits and 24-h urinary cortisol in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.

Publications

Five-factor model personality traits and 24-h urinary cortisol in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.

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