Personality, health, and brain integrity: The Lothian Birth Cohort Study 1936

Tom Booth; Rene Mottus; Janie Corley; Alan J. Gow; Ross D. Henderson; Susana Munoz Maniega; Catherine Murray; Natalie A. Royle; Emma Sprooten; Maria C. Valdes Hernandez; Mark E. Bastin; Lars Penke; John M. Starr; Joanna M. Wardlaw; Ian J. Deary

doi:10.1037/hea0000012

Personality, health, and brain integrity: The Lothian Birth Cohort Study 1936

Tom Booth^*, Rene Mottus, Janie Corley, Alan J. Gow, Ross D. Henderson, Susana Munoz Maniega, Catherine Murray, Natalie A. Royle, Emma Sprooten, Maria C. Valdes Hernandez, Mark E. Bastin, Lars Penke, John M. Starr, Joanna M. Wardlaw, Ian J. Deary

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

36 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To explore associations between the 5-factor model (FFM; neuroticism, extraversion, openness/intellect, agreeableness, and conscientiousness), personality traits, and measures of whole-brain integrity in a large sample of older people, and to test whether these associations are mediated by health-related behaviors.

METHOD: Participants from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 completed the International Personality Item Pool measure, a 5-factor public-domain personality measure (http://ipip.ori.org), and underwent a structural magnetic resonance brain scan at the mean age of 73 years, yielding 3 measures of whole brain integrity: average white matter fractional anisotropy (FA), brain-tissue loss, and white matter hyperintensities (N = 529 to 565). Correlational and mediation analyses were used to test the potential mediating effects of health-related behaviors on the associations between personality and integrity.

RESULTS: Lower conscientiousness was consistently associated with brain-tissue loss (β = -0.11, p < 0.01), lower FA (β = 0.16, p < 0.001) and white matter hyperintensities (β = -0.10, p < 0.05). Smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, physical activity, body mass index and a composite health-behavior variable displayed significant associations with measures of brain integrity (range of r = 0.10 to 0.25). The direct effects of conscientiousness on brain integrity were mediated to some degree by health behaviors, with the proportions of explained direct effects ranging from 0.1% to 13.7%.

CONCLUSION: Conscientiousness was associated with all 3 measures of brain integrity, which we tentatively interpret as the effects of personality on brain aging. Small proportions of the direct effects were mediated by individual health behaviors. RESULTS provide initial indications that lifetime stable personality traits may influence brain health in later life through health-promoting behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1477-1486
Number of pages	10
Journal	Health Psychology
Volume	33
Issue number	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000012
Publication status	Published - Dec 2014

Keywords

five-factor model
brain volume
white matter hyperintensities
fractional anisotropy
health behaviors
BODY-MASS INDEX
WHITE-MATTER INTEGRITY
6-YEAR FOLLOW-UP
ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE
PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY
OLDER-ADULTS
AGE
TRAITS
SAMPLE
VOLUME

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Booth, T., Mottus, R., Corley, J., Gow, A. J., Henderson, R. D., Maniega, S. M., Murray, C., Royle, N. A., Sprooten, E., Hernandez, M. C. V., Bastin, M. E., Penke, L., Starr, J. M., Wardlaw, J. M., & Deary, I. J. (2014). Personality, health, and brain integrity: The Lothian Birth Cohort Study 1936. Health Psychology, 33(12), 1477-1486. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000012

@article{fac3905388bd42b5accb97084c4c3a71,

title = "Personality, health, and brain integrity: The Lothian Birth Cohort Study 1936",

abstract = "OBJECTIVE: To explore associations between the 5-factor model (FFM; neuroticism, extraversion, openness/intellect, agreeableness, and conscientiousness), personality traits, and measures of whole-brain integrity in a large sample of older people, and to test whether these associations are mediated by health-related behaviors.METHOD: Participants from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 completed the International Personality Item Pool measure, a 5-factor public-domain personality measure (http://ipip.ori.org), and underwent a structural magnetic resonance brain scan at the mean age of 73 years, yielding 3 measures of whole brain integrity: average white matter fractional anisotropy (FA), brain-tissue loss, and white matter hyperintensities (N = 529 to 565). Correlational and mediation analyses were used to test the potential mediating effects of health-related behaviors on the associations between personality and integrity.RESULTS: Lower conscientiousness was consistently associated with brain-tissue loss (β = -0.11, p < 0.01), lower FA (β = 0.16, p < 0.001) and white matter hyperintensities (β = -0.10, p < 0.05). Smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, physical activity, body mass index and a composite health-behavior variable displayed significant associations with measures of brain integrity (range of r = 0.10 to 0.25). The direct effects of conscientiousness on brain integrity were mediated to some degree by health behaviors, with the proportions of explained direct effects ranging from 0.1% to 13.7%.CONCLUSION: Conscientiousness was associated with all 3 measures of brain integrity, which we tentatively interpret as the effects of personality on brain aging. Small proportions of the direct effects were mediated by individual health behaviors. RESULTS provide initial indications that lifetime stable personality traits may influence brain health in later life through health-promoting behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).",

keywords = "five-factor model, brain volume, white matter hyperintensities, fractional anisotropy, health behaviors, BODY-MASS INDEX, WHITE-MATTER INTEGRITY, 6-YEAR FOLLOW-UP, ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE, PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY, OLDER-ADULTS, AGE, TRAITS, SAMPLE, VOLUME",

author = "Tom Booth and Rene Mottus and Janie Corley and Gow, {Alan J.} and Henderson, {Ross D.} and Maniega, {Susana Munoz} and Catherine Murray and Royle, {Natalie A.} and Emma Sprooten and Hernandez, {Maria C. Valdes} and Bastin, {Mark E.} and Lars Penke and Starr, {John M.} and Wardlaw, {Joanna M.} and Deary, {Ian J.}",

year = "2014",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1037/hea0000012",

language = "English",

volume = "33",

pages = "1477--1486",

journal = "Health Psychology",

issn = "1930-7810",

publisher = "American Psychological Association",

number = "12",

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T1 - Personality, health, and brain integrity

T2 - The Lothian Birth Cohort Study 1936

AU - Booth, Tom

AU - Mottus, Rene

AU - Corley, Janie

AU - Gow, Alan J.

AU - Henderson, Ross D.

AU - Maniega, Susana Munoz

AU - Murray, Catherine

AU - Royle, Natalie A.

AU - Sprooten, Emma

AU - Hernandez, Maria C. Valdes

AU - Bastin, Mark E.

AU - Penke, Lars

AU - Starr, John M.

AU - Wardlaw, Joanna M.

AU - Deary, Ian J.

PY - 2014/12

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N2 - OBJECTIVE: To explore associations between the 5-factor model (FFM; neuroticism, extraversion, openness/intellect, agreeableness, and conscientiousness), personality traits, and measures of whole-brain integrity in a large sample of older people, and to test whether these associations are mediated by health-related behaviors.METHOD: Participants from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 completed the International Personality Item Pool measure, a 5-factor public-domain personality measure (http://ipip.ori.org), and underwent a structural magnetic resonance brain scan at the mean age of 73 years, yielding 3 measures of whole brain integrity: average white matter fractional anisotropy (FA), brain-tissue loss, and white matter hyperintensities (N = 529 to 565). Correlational and mediation analyses were used to test the potential mediating effects of health-related behaviors on the associations between personality and integrity.RESULTS: Lower conscientiousness was consistently associated with brain-tissue loss (β = -0.11, p < 0.01), lower FA (β = 0.16, p < 0.001) and white matter hyperintensities (β = -0.10, p < 0.05). Smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, physical activity, body mass index and a composite health-behavior variable displayed significant associations with measures of brain integrity (range of r = 0.10 to 0.25). The direct effects of conscientiousness on brain integrity were mediated to some degree by health behaviors, with the proportions of explained direct effects ranging from 0.1% to 13.7%.CONCLUSION: Conscientiousness was associated with all 3 measures of brain integrity, which we tentatively interpret as the effects of personality on brain aging. Small proportions of the direct effects were mediated by individual health behaviors. RESULTS provide initial indications that lifetime stable personality traits may influence brain health in later life through health-promoting behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

AB - OBJECTIVE: To explore associations between the 5-factor model (FFM; neuroticism, extraversion, openness/intellect, agreeableness, and conscientiousness), personality traits, and measures of whole-brain integrity in a large sample of older people, and to test whether these associations are mediated by health-related behaviors.METHOD: Participants from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 completed the International Personality Item Pool measure, a 5-factor public-domain personality measure (http://ipip.ori.org), and underwent a structural magnetic resonance brain scan at the mean age of 73 years, yielding 3 measures of whole brain integrity: average white matter fractional anisotropy (FA), brain-tissue loss, and white matter hyperintensities (N = 529 to 565). Correlational and mediation analyses were used to test the potential mediating effects of health-related behaviors on the associations between personality and integrity.RESULTS: Lower conscientiousness was consistently associated with brain-tissue loss (β = -0.11, p < 0.01), lower FA (β = 0.16, p < 0.001) and white matter hyperintensities (β = -0.10, p < 0.05). Smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, physical activity, body mass index and a composite health-behavior variable displayed significant associations with measures of brain integrity (range of r = 0.10 to 0.25). The direct effects of conscientiousness on brain integrity were mediated to some degree by health behaviors, with the proportions of explained direct effects ranging from 0.1% to 13.7%.CONCLUSION: Conscientiousness was associated with all 3 measures of brain integrity, which we tentatively interpret as the effects of personality on brain aging. Small proportions of the direct effects were mediated by individual health behaviors. RESULTS provide initial indications that lifetime stable personality traits may influence brain health in later life through health-promoting behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

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KW - white matter hyperintensities

KW - fractional anisotropy

KW - health behaviors

KW - BODY-MASS INDEX

KW - WHITE-MATTER INTEGRITY

KW - 6-YEAR FOLLOW-UP

KW - ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE

KW - PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY

KW - OLDER-ADULTS

KW - AGE

KW - TRAITS

KW - SAMPLE

KW - VOLUME

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DO - 10.1037/hea0000012

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SN - 1930-7810

VL - 33

SP - 1477

EP - 1486

JO - Health Psychology

JF - Health Psychology

IS - 12

ER -

Personality, health, and brain integrity: The Lothian Birth Cohort Study 1936

Abstract

Keywords

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