title: A questionnaire-wide association study of personality and mortality: the Vietnam Experience Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We examined the association between the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and all-cause mortality in 4462 middle-aged Vietnam-era veterans.
  
  
  METHODS
  We split the study population into half-samples. In each half, we used proportional hazards (Cox) regression to test the 550 MMPI items' associations with mortality over 15years. In all participants, we subjected significant (p<.01) items in both halves to principal-components analysis (PCA). We used Cox regression to test whether these components predicted mortality when controlling for other predictors (demographics, cognitive ability, health behaviors, and mental/physical health).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighty-nine items were associated with mortality in both half-samples. PCA revealed Neuroticism/Negative Affectivity, Somatic Complaints, Psychotic/Paranoia, and Antisocial components, and a higher-order component, Personal Disturbance. Individually, Neuroticism/Negative Affectivity (HR=1.55; 95% CI=1.39, 1.72), Somatic Complaints (HR=1.66; 95% CI=1.52, 1.80), Psychotic/Paranoid (HR=1.44; 95% CI=1.32, 1.57), Antisocial (HR=1.79; 95% CI=1.59, 2.01), and Personal Disturbance (HR=1.74; 95% CI=1.58, 1.91) were associated with risk. Including covariates attenuated these associations (28.4 to 54.5%), though they were still significant. After entering Personal Disturbance into models with each component, Neuroticism/Negative Affectivity and Somatic Complaints were significant, although Neuroticism/Negative Affectivity's were now protective (HR=0.73; 95% CI=0.58, 0.92). When the four components were entered together with or without covariates, Somatic Complaints and Antisocial were significant risk factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Somatic Complaints and Personal Disturbance are associated with increased mortality risk. Other components' effects varied as a function of variables in the model.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. alex.weiss@ed.ac.uk
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: Catharine R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Gale
authors.forename: G David
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Batty
authors.forename: Ian J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Deary
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000401:mortality* / Q000523:psychology; D002423:Cause of Death; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008950:MMPI; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology*; D014744:Vietnam