Neuroticism and Indicators of Daily Health: A Lifespan Developmental Approach
Open Access
- Author:
- King, Heather
- Graduate Program:
- Human Development and Family Studies
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- May 27, 2008
- Committee Members:
- David Manuel Almeida, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
David Manuel Almeida, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Denis Gerstorf, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor - Keywords:
- neuroticism
daily health - Abstract:
- The current study examined associations between neuroticism and indicators of daily physical health, namely measures of self-reported physical health symptoms and cortisol at waking. Also of interest was whether the associations were moderated by age. Participants included 907 individuals from the National Study of Daily Experiences II (NSDE), an 8-day daily diary telephone study with cortisol assessed on study days 2-5. Age of the participants ranged from 33 to 84. Multilevel modeling was used to analyze the data. Persons with higher scores on neuroticism were more likely to report at least one physical health symptom on a given day. Higher scores on neuroticism were also related to a higher number and severity of symptoms on symptom days. In addition, individuals with higher scores on neuroticism were more variable in number of symptoms but less variable in symptom severity. These associations were not moderated by age. In regards to cortisol at waking, individuals with higher scores on neuroticism had higher levels of and more within-person variation, suggesting a link between neuroticism and hyperactivity of the HPA axis. This association between neuroticism and cortisol at waking was driven mainly by the older adults. Neuroticism may influence objective daily physical health more in old age as a result of biological vulnerability. In addition, perhaps continued high levels of neuroticism contribute to heightened physical reactivity and sensitivity due to the repeated experience of stressors. This is known as amplification or a kindling effect. Overall, these results provide support for both the biological and psychological mechanisms proposed to underlie the association between neuroticism and health. The findings also underscore the complex associations among neuroticism, age, daily physical health symptoms, and cortisol at waking.