title: Is personality a driving force for socioeconomic differences in young adults' health care use? A prospective cohort study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To relate personality characteristics at the age of 12 to socioeconomic differences in health care use in young adulthood. And thereby examining the extent to which socioeconomic differences in the use of health care in young adulthood are based on differences in personality characteristics, independent of the (parental) socioeconomic background.
  
  
  METHODS
  Personality of more than 13,000 Dutch 12-year old participants was related to their health and socioeconomic position after a follow-up of 13 years (when the participants had become young adults).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In young adulthood, low socioeconomic status was related to high health care use (e.g. low education -hospital admission: OR = 2.21; low income -GP costs: OR = 1.25). Odds ratios (for the socioeconomic health differences) did not decrease when controlled for personality.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this Dutch sample of younger people, personality appeared not to be a driving force for socioeconomic differences in health care use. Findings thus do not support the personality-related, indirect selection perspective on the explanation of socioeconomic differences in health.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Medicine, School for Public Health and Primary Care (CAPHRI), Maastricht University, UM/CAPHRI, PO Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands. m.kraft@maastrichtuniversity.nl.
authors.forename: Maren
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kraft
authors.affiliation: Statistics Netherlands, Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, PO Box 4481, 6401 CZ, Heerlen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Koos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Arts
authors.affiliation: Statistics Netherlands, Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, PO Box 4481, 6401 CZ, Heerlen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Traag
authors.affiliation: Statistics Netherlands, Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, PO Box 4481, 6401 CZ, Heerlen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ferdy
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Otten
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Medicine, School for Public Health and Primary Care (CAPHRI), Maastricht University, UM/CAPHRI, PO Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bosma
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D010551:Personality; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Indirect selection; Individual differences; Personality; Socioeconomic health inequalities