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Personality and Physical Health - Coggle Diagram
Personality and Physical Health
Medicare Study (weiss & costa, 2005)
5y survival rates of p's aged 65-100yrs
p's with high C were half as likely to die than average to low C
4 Potential Pathways (matthews et al., 2009)
direct causation
personality activates bio mechanisms which causes changes to health
correlational
factor X drives the association between personality and health
causal chain
personality trait drives behaviour which influences our health outcomes
somatogenic
changes in health will change our behaviours/personality
Disease Prone Personality Types (friedman & rosenman, 1959)
personality factors that predict CVD
type A
associated with higher risk of CVD
competitive, ambitious, driven, impatient, aggressive, hostility and anger
type B
lower risk of CVD
uninterested in achievement/power, takes life as it comes and relaxed
Type A Personality
measuring
original measure was a challenging interview to measure anger/hostility components
self-report jenkins activity survey covers a broader range of components like impatiences and time availability
CVD risk
maltyby et al. (2017)
large longitudinal epidemiological studies have inconsistent findings
meta analyses found original measure was more likely to show results that SR as it was focused on anger
glass (1977): 3 separable components
competitively striving for achievement
sense of urgency
hostility
toxic component
chida & steptoe (2009)
anger and hostility are significantly associated with heart disease incidence and prognosis
prolonged exposure to stress response is what's causing the association
Other Disease Prone Personality Types
cancer prone: type C
high E and low N
suppresses and represses emotions
little convincing evidence e.g. hansen et al. (2005) found no link between E or N in a cohort of 30,000 over 25yr
much of eysenck's work on this topic is considered questionable
distressed: type D (denollet, 2000)
depressed and socially inhibited
poorer recovery from heart attack
increased risk of future heart problems
lack of social resources to deal with their negative emotions
Effects of BIG 5 traits on health
conscientiousness
clear link between C and longevity
most support for causal behavioural/bio chain mechanism
high C leads to regular exercise and good health behaviours leading to increased longevity
high C p's have better coping mechanism and have lower interleukin-6
high C associated with fewer daily stressors and better coping (o'connor et al., 2009)
neuroticism
lahey (2009)
high N leads to poor health behaviours s leading to reduced longevity
friedman (2000)
coined healthy neuroticism which increases engagement in preventative behaviours
correlational relationship between living in low SES environment being associated to high N and reduced longevity
extraversion
different effects for different facets
ploubidis and grundy (2009)
9000 p's completed EPI with 5750 follow up
higher E associated with increased mortality
positive associations between E and mortality partially explained through smoking
excitement seeking facet associated with destructive behaviours
protective factors
warms leads to more social support acting as a buffer against stress
associated with increased immune functioning (although not documented well)
openness to experience
good evidence for positive association with longevity however, unclear mechanism
assoicated with greater cognitive resever and health literacy
Somatogenic Pathways
very/extremely LBW (waxman et al., 2013)
lower E/O
higher N, A, C
higher cautiousness
potential mechanisms
extra-uterine brain development
subsequent illness
higher parental monitoring and behavioural restriction
cautiousness arises as an adaptive developmental trait to cope with high stress environments
impact of chronic diseases on BIG 5 traits (joekla et al., 2014)
looked at heart disease, stroke, cancer
found dose dependent decreases in E, N, C & O
disease specific effects greatest for stroke and least for cancer
potential mechanisms
neural function
coping with distress ad challenges of disease (N)
fatigue (E)
lowered ability to organise life (C)
Practical Applications
hagger-johnson and pollard whiteman (2008): 5T's
targeting
better job at targeting health campaigns to the traits of people in need
tailoring
help p's plan better
training
train p's to have better coping mechanisms
treatment
potential for development of drugs to help prevent behaviours bad for health
transformation
recording process can make changes less scary