title: Personality and stress appraisal in adults prenatally exposed to the Dutch famine.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous studies have shown that prenatal exposure to the Dutch famine is associated with an increased risk for several psychiatric disorders. Variation in personality characteristics and in stress appraisal may underlie mental disorders.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether prenatal famine exposure is associated with personality characteristics and stress appraisal.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants included a total of 572 men and women, born as term singletons in a local hospital in Amsterdam around the time of the 1944-1945 Dutch famine.
  
  
  METHODS
  Scores on the Big Five Inventory and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no statistically significant differences in the personality traits openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism or in PSS scores between those unexposed and those exposed to famine during early, mid or late gestation. However, there were statistically significant (P=0.01) and borderline significant interactions (P=0.07) respectively between exposure to famine during early gestation and sex on conscientiousness and agreeableness. Subsequent analyses showed that men exposed to famine during early gestation had lower conscientiousness scores and women exposed during early gestation had higher agreeableness scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that conscientiousness and agreeableness may differ between men and women unexposed and exposed to famine during early gestation. As evidence was not very robust, future research should confirm the present findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, P.O. Box 22660, 1100DD, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. s.r.derooij@amc.uva.nl
authors.forename: Susanne R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: de Rooij
authors.forename: Marjolein V E
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Veenendaal
authors.forename: Katri
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Räikkönen
authors.forename: Tessa J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Roseboom
mesh_terms: D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013217:Starvation / Q000150:complications*; D013315:Stress, Psychological