Associations between the five-factor model of personality and leukocyte telomere length in elderly men and women: The Helsinki Birth Cohort Study (HBCS)

Savolainen, Katri; Eriksson, Johan G.; Kajantie, Eero; Pesonen, Anu‐Katriina; Räikkönen, Katri

doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2015.04.011

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…In these data, adult Big Five traits showed no association with LTL. This replicates the recent work of Savolainen et al (), and the null effect for adult neuroticism reported by O'Donovan, Tomiyama, et al (). Our results however are not consistent with those reported by Sadahiro et al ().…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Following evidence that stressful life events are associated with shorter LTL (Tyrka et al, ), O'Donovan, Tomiyama, et al (2012) tested for an association between neuroticism and shorter LTL cross‐sectionally in adulthood, but found no association. Recent work using data from the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study found no cross‐sectional association between Big Five traits and LTL in elderly individuals, although follow up analyses did show a disordinal interaction of agreeableness by gender (Savolainen, Eriksson, Kajantie, Pesonen, & Räikkönen, ). One study has shown a cross‐sectional association between higher conscientiousness and longer LTL in a sample of young adult Japanese students (Sadahiro et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Childhood Personality, Betrayal Trauma, and Leukocyte Telomere Length in Adulthood: A Lifespan Perspective on Conscientiousness and Betrayal Traumas as Predictors of a Biomarker of Cellular Ageing

et al. 2016

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Conscientiousness is associated with longevity. As such, identifying the biological pathways linking personality to mortality is important. This study employs longitudinal data spanning >40 years to test prospective associations with Leukocyte Telomere Length (LTL), a potential marker of cellular aging. Because telomeres shorten over time, and are sensitive to oxidative stress, shorter LTL may reflect cumulative damage associated with negative health behaviors and past stressful events. We investigated childhood conscientiousness as a protective factor, expecting an association with longer LTL in adulthood, possibly reflecting slower LTL shortening. Potential lifespan pathways involving childhood trauma, smoking behaviors, and Body Mass Index (BMI) were explored. Childhood conscientiousness showed a small raw association with LTL (r = .08, p = .04), although this effect did not persist when controlling for age and sex. Despite this lack of a direct effect on LTL, we detected an indirect effect operating jointly through BMI and smoking. Higher rates of childhood betrayal trauma were associated with shorter LTL. Contrary to our hypothesis that conscientiousness would buffer this effect, we found evidence for an interaction with childhood betrayal traumas where the association between childhood betrayal traumas and LTL was larger for those higher on conscientiousness in childhood.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Childhood Personality, Betrayal Trauma, and Leukocyte Telomere Length in Adulthood: A Lifespan Perspective on Conscientiousness and Betrayal Traumas as Predictors of a Biomarker of Cellular Ageing

et al. 2016

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“…In addition, this research did not investigate why an autonomous orientation would predict longevity, which represents a critical direction of future research. Potential mechanisms could include common genetic determinants of motivation and health, as have been shown in relation to intelligence (Davies et al, ), physiological reactions to psychological stress (Savolainen, Eriksson, Kajantie, Pesonen, & Räikkönen, ), and behavioral health habits (Martin, Friedman, & Schwartz, ). Finally, the current set of findings should be seen as exploratory in nature as they were not preregistered; future studies should replicate motivational links with longevity before conclusions can be confidently drawn.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autonomous orientation predicts longevity: New findings from the Nun Study

Weinstein

Legate

Ryan

et al. 2018

Journal of Personality

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Objective: Work on longevity has found protective social, cognitive, and emotional factors, but to date we have little understanding of the impact of motivational dynamics. Autonomy orientation, or stable patterns of self-regulation, is theorized to be a protective factor for long-term mental and physical health (Ryan & Deci, 2017), and it is therefore a prime candidate for examining how stable psychosocial factors are linked to longevity, or life expectancy.Method: Essays written in the 1930s by participants in the Nun Study were coded for indicators of an autonomy orientation. These were selected in line with an extensive theoretical literature based in self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985). Essays were coded for the propensity for choice in action, susceptibility to pressure, self-reflection, integration of experiences, and parental support for autonomy. These coded variables were used to predict age of death.Results: Using 176 codable essays provided by now-deceased participants, linear regression analyses revealed that choiceful behavior, self-reflection, and parent autonomy support predicted age of death. Participants who demonstrated these stable and beneficial motivational characteristics lived longer.Conclusions: Personality constructs reflecting a healthy form of self-regulation are associated with long-term health. Implications for health interventions are discussed.

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“…In contrast, results of the longitudinal study by van Ockenburg et al showed that persons who score high on neuroticism have shorter TL (Van Ockenburg et al 2014 ). Two cross-sectional null-studies relating TL to the traditional Big Five in an elderly population (Savolainen et al 2015 ) and the less traditional Type D personality trait in patients with chronic heart failure (Huzen et al 2010 ) were also published. In the latter study, the authors also did not find a relation between depression and TL (Huzen et al 2010 ), whereas previous studies did report a negative association between the two (Verhoeven et al 2014 ; Schutte & Malouff, 2015 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Discrepancies among these studies relating personality to TL may be inherent to the study design as affirmative studies included younger individuals. These disparities may be intrinsic to whether or not researchers controlled for lifestyle factors as in the study by Sadahiro et al significant associations were found while adjusting for age and gender (Sadahiro et al 2015 ), whereas Savolainen and colleagues reported non-significant results while adjusting additionally for education, presence of chronic illnesses, depressive symptoms, and the lifestyle factors: BMI, alcohol use, smoking and physical activity (Savolainen et al 2015 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leukocyte telomere length and personality: associations with the Big Five and Type D personality traits

et al. 2017

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BackgroundsAccelerated cellular ageing, which can be examined by telomere length (TL), may be an overarching mechanism underlying the association between personality and adverse health outcomes. This 6-year longitudinal study examined the relation between personality and leukocyte telomere length (LTL) across time among adults with a wide age-range.MethodsData from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety were used and included patients with a depression and/or anxiety disorder and healthy controls. Overall, 2936 persons (18–65 years, 66% female) had data on LTL at baseline and 1883 persons had LTL at 6-year follow-up. The Big Five personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) and Type D personality were assessed.ResultsNeuroticism was negatively (B = −2.11, p = 0.03) and agreeableness was positively (B = 3.84, p = 0.03) related to LTL measured across two time points, which became just non-significant after adjusting for somatic health, lifestyle factors, and recent life stress (B = −1.99, p = 0.06; and B = 3.01, p = 0.10). Type D personality was negatively (B = −50.16, p < 0.01) related to LTL across two time points, which still remained statistically significant after full adjustment (B = −47.37, p = 0.01). Associations did not differ by age, gender, and current psychiatric status.ConclusionsThe Big Five traits high neuroticism and low agreeableness, and Type D personality were associated with shorter LTL measured across a 6-year period. Associations with the Big Five traits became non-significant after controlling for somatic health, lifestyle factors, and recent life stress, yet similar trends were observed. Type D personality remained independently associated with shorter LTL after full adjustment.

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Associations between the five-factor model of personality and leukocyte telomere length in elderly men and women: The Helsinki Birth Cohort Study (HBCS)

Cited by 13 publications

References 77 publications

Childhood Personality, Betrayal Trauma, and Leukocyte Telomere Length in Adulthood: A Lifespan Perspective on Conscientiousness and Betrayal Traumas as Predictors of a Biomarker of Cellular Ageing

Childhood Personality, Betrayal Trauma, and Leukocyte Telomere Length in Adulthood: A Lifespan Perspective on Conscientiousness and Betrayal Traumas as Predictors of a Biomarker of Cellular Ageing

Autonomous orientation predicts longevity: New findings from the Nun Study

Leukocyte telomere length and personality: associations with the Big Five and Type D personality traits

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