title: Socioeconomic Status Interacts with Conscientiousness and Neuroticism to Predict Circulating Concentrations of Inflammatory Markers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Socioeconomic health disparities research may benefit from further consideration of dispositional factors potentially modifying risk associated with low socioeconomic status, including that indexed by systemic inflammation.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study was conducted to investigate interactions of SES and the Five-Factor Model (FFM) personality traits in predicting circulating concentrations of the inflammatory markers interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP).
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a sample of middle-aged and older adults from the Midlife in the United States Survey (MIDUS) biomarker project (N = 978), linear regression models tested interactions of each FFM trait with a composite measure of SES in predicting IL-6 and CRP, as well as the explanatory role of medical morbidity, measures of adiposity, and health behaviors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SES interacted with conscientiousness to predict levels of IL-6 (interaction b = .03, p = .002) and CRP (interaction b = .04, p = .014) and with neuroticism to predict IL-6 (interaction b = -.03, p = .004). Socioeconomic gradients in both markers were smaller at higher levels of conscientiousness. Conversely, the socioeconomic gradient in IL-6 was larger at higher levels of neuroticism. Viewed from the perspective of SES as the moderator, neuroticism was positively related to IL-6 at low levels of SES but negatively related at high SES. Interactions of SES with both conscientiousness and neuroticism were attenuated upon adjustment for measures of adiposity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Conscientiousness may buffer, and neuroticism amplify, excess inflammatory risk associated with low SES, in part through relationships with adiposity. Neuroticism may be associated with lower levels of inflammation at high levels of SES.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester, 300 Crittenden Blvd, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA. ari_elliot@urmc.rochester.edu.
authors.forename: Ari J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Elliot
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Turiano
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester, 300 Crittenden Blvd, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA.|Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Chapman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000075384:Neuroticism / Q000502:physiology; D010551:Personality / Q000502:physiology*; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012923:Social Class; D014481:United States
chemical_list: C508600:IL6 protein, human; D015850:Interleukin-6; D002097:C-Reactive Protein
keywords: C-reactive protein; Conscientiousness; Inflammation; Interleukin-6; Neuroticism; Personality; Socioeconomic status