This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Grossardt, B. R. Articles by Rocca, W. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Grossardt, B. R. Articles by Rocca, W. A. Related Collections Personality Anxiety Depression

Pessimistic, Anxious, and Depressive Personality Traits Predict All-Cause Mortality: The Mayo Clinic Cohort Study of Personality and Aging

From the Division of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics (B.R.G.), Department of Health Sciences Research; Department of Neurology (J.H.B., W.A.R.); Department of Psychiatry and Psychology (Y.E.G., R.C.C.); and Division of Epidemiology (Y.E.G., W.A.R.), Department of Health Sciences Research, College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr Rocca, Division of Epidemiology, Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905. E-mail: rocca{at}mayo.edu

Objective: To study the association between several personality traits and all-cause mortality.

Methods: We established a historical cohort of 7216 subjects who completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) for research at the Mayo Clinic from 1962 to 1965, and who resided within a 120-mile radius centered in Rochester, MN. A total of 7080 subjects (98.1%) were followed over four decades either actively (via a direct or proxy telephone interview) or passively (via review of medical records or by obtaining their death certificates). We examined the association of pessimistic, anxious, and depressive personality traits (as measured using MMPI scales) with all-cause mortality.

Results: A total of 4634 subjects (65.5%) died during follow-up. Pessimistic, anxious, and depressive personality traits were associated with increased all-cause mortality in both men and women. In addition, we observed a linear trend of increasing risk from the first to the fourth quartile for all three scales. Results were similar in additional analyses considering the personality scores as continuous variables, in analyses combining the three personality traits into a composite neuroticism score, and in several sets of sensitivity analyses. These associations remained significant even when personality was measured early in life (ages 20–39 years).

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that personality traits related to neuroticism are associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality even when they are measured early in life.

Key Words: mortality • pessimism • anxiety • depression • neuroticism • MMPI

Abbreviations: CES-D = Center for Epidemiologic Studies—Depression; CI = confidence interval; EPI = Eysenck Personality Inventory; HADS = Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; HR = hazard ratio; IQR = interquartile range; MMPI = Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory; NEO-FFI = NEO Five-Factor Inventory; NEO-PI-R = Revised NEO Personality Inventory; SD = standard deviation.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. L. Trumbetta, B. K. Seltzer, I. I. Gottesman, and K. M. McIntyre Mortality Predictors in a 60-Year Follow-Up of Adolescent Males: Exploring Delinquency, Socioeconomic Status, IQ, High-School Drop-Out Status,and Personality Psychosom Med, January 1, 2010; 72(1): 46 - 52. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]