Prediction of all-cause mortality by the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Optimism-Pessimism Scale scores: study of a college sample during a 40-year follow-up period.
OBJECTIVE
To examine a measure of explanatory style, the Optimism-Pessimism (PSM) scale derived from college-entry Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory scores, as a predictor of all-cause mortality.


METHODS
A total of 7007 students entering the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory during the mid-1960s. Of those students, 6958 had scores on the PSM scale and data for all-cause mortality through 2006. Scores on the PSM scale were evaluated as predictors of mortality using the Cox proportional hazards regression model, adjusted for sex. During the 40-year follow-up period, 476 deaths occurred.


RESULTS
Pessimistic individuals who scored in the upper tertile of the distribution had decreased rates of longevity (hazard ratio, 1.42; 95% confidence Interval, 1.13-1.77) compared with optimistic individuals who scored in the bottom tertile of the distribution.


CONCLUSIONS
In a model that adjusted only for sex, a measure of optimistic vs pessimistic explanatory style was a significant predictor of survival during a 40-year follow-up period such that optimists had Increased longevity.
Brummett
Beverly H
BH
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Box 2969, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA. brummett@duke.edu
Helms
Michael J
MJ
Dahlstrom
W Grant
WG
Siegler
Ilene C
IC
D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008136:Longevity; D008950:MMPI; D008297:Male; D009026:Mortality; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D013694:Temperament