title: Harm avoidance and disability in old age.
abstract: The relation of personality to disability in old age is not well understood. The authors examined the relation of harm avoidance, a trait indicating a tendency to worry, fear uncertainty, be shy, and tire easily, to disability in a group of 474 older persons without dementia. Participants completed the 35-item Harm Avoidance scale. Disability was assessed with the Rosow-Breslau scale, a self-report measure of physical mobility. Performance-based tests of lower limb functions were also administered from which composite measures of gait, balance, and strength were derived. In a logistic regression model controlled for age, sex, education, and lower limb function, persons with high levels of harm avoidance were nearly three times as likely to report mobility limitations as persons with low levels, and these effects largely reflected fatigability and fear of uncertainty. The association of harm avoidance with disability was not explained or modified by frailty, physical activity, depressive symptoms, neuroticism, extraversion, or cognition. The results suggest that harm avoidance is associated with disability in old age.
authors.affiliation: Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center and Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois 60612, USA. rwilson@rush.edu
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Aron S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Buchman
authors.forename: Steven E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Arnold
authors.forename: Raj C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Yuxiao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Bennett
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg; D008297:Male; D053580:Muscle Strength; D010551:Personality; D010552:Personality Assessment; D012309:Risk-Taking