title: A Big Five approach to self-regulation: personality traits and health trajectories in the Hawaii longitudinal study of personality and health.
abstract: Self-regulatory processes influencing health outcomes may have their origins in childhood personality traits. The Big Five approach to personality was used here to investigate the associations between childhood traits, trait-related regulatory processes and changes in health across middle age. Participants (N = 1176) were members of the Hawaii longitudinal study of personality and health. Teacher assessments of the participants' traits when they were in elementary school were related to trajectories of self-rated health measured on 6 occasions over 14 years in middle age. Five trajectories of self-rated health were identified by latent class growth analysis: Stable Excellent, Stable Very Good, Good, Decreasing and Poor. Childhood Conscientiousness was the only childhood trait to predict membership in the Decreasing class vs. the combined healthy classes (Stable Excellent, Stable Very Good and Good), even after controlling for adult Conscientiousness and the other adult Big Five traits. The Decreasing class had poorer objectively assessed clinical health measured on one occasion in middle age, was less well-educated, and had a history of more lifespan health-damaging behaviors compared to the combined healthy classes. These findings suggest that higher levels of childhood Conscientiousness (i.e. greater self-discipline and goal-directedness) may prevent subsequent health decline decades later through self-regulatory processes involving the acquisition of lifelong healthful behavior patterns and higher educational attainment.
authors.affiliation: a Oregon Research Institute , 1776 Millrace Drive, Eugene , OR 97403-2536 , USA.
authors.forename: Sarah E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Hampson
authors.affiliation: a Oregon Research Institute , 1776 Millrace Drive, Eugene , OR 97403-2536 , USA.
authors.forename: Grant W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Edmonds
authors.affiliation: a Oregon Research Institute , 1776 Millrace Drive, Eugene , OR 97403-2536 , USA.
authors.forename: Maureen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barckley
authors.affiliation: a Oregon Research Institute , 1776 Millrace Drive, Eugene , OR 97403-2536 , USA.
authors.forename: Lewis R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Goldberg
authors.affiliation: b Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research Hawaii , Honolulu , HI , USA.
authors.forename: Joan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Dubanoski
authors.affiliation: b Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research Hawaii , Honolulu , HI , USA.
authors.forename: Teresa A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Hillier
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006254:Hawaii; D015438:Health Behavior; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality; D000068356:Self-Control / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Conscientiousness; health behaviors; health trajectories; self-rated health