Personality and Risk of Physical Illness
- 1 April 2006
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Annual Reviews in Annual Review of Clinical Psychology
- Vol. 2 (1), 435-467
- https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.2.022305.095257
Abstract
Several personality characteristics have been linked in multiple well-designed prospective studies to subsequent physical health outcomes, such as longevity and the development and course of cardiovascular disease. The evidence is strongest for negative affectivity/neuroticism, anger/hostility and related traits, and optimism. Models of mechanisms underlying these associations have emphasized physiological effects of stress, exposure to stressors, and health behavior. Preliminary evidence supports the viability of some mechanisms, but formal mediational tests are lacking. In addition to addressing limitations and inconsistencies in this literature, future research should address developmental aspects of these psychosocial risk factors, contextual moderators of their health effects, and intervention applications in the prevention and management of disease. In these efforts, greater incorporation of concepts and methods in the structural, social-cognitive, and interpersonal perspectives in the field of personality are needed.Keywords
This publication has 99 references indexed in Scilit:
- Ratings of positive and depressive emotion as predictors of mortality in coronary patientsInternational Journal of Cardiology, 2005
- Prospective cohort study of hostility and the risk of cardiovascular disease mortalityInternational Journal of Cardiology, 2005
- Personality, health, and aging: prolegomenon for the next generationJournal of Research in Personality, 2002
- Patterns of Hostility and Social Support: Conceptualizing Psychosocial Risk Factors as Characteristics of the Person and the EnvironmentJournal of Research in Personality, 1999
- Monkeys, aggression, and the pathobiology of atherosclerosisAggressive Behavior, 1998
- Personality dimensions and measures potentially relevant to health: A focus on hostilityAnnals of Behavioral Medicine, 1995
- John Henryism and the health of African-AmericansCulture, Medicine, and Psychiatry, 1994
- Psychological distress as a predictor of ventricular arrhythmias in a post-myocardial infarction populationAmerican Heart Journal, 1988
- Alteration of type A behavior and reduction in cardiac recurrences in postmyocardial infarction patientsAmerican Heart Journal, 1984
- Competitive drive, pattern a, and coronary heart disease: A further analysis of some data from the Western Collaborative Group StudyJournal of Chronic Diseases, 1977