%0 Journal Article %J Neuropsychopharmacology %D 2017 %T Genome-Wide Association Study of Loneliness Demonstrates a Role for Common Variation. %A Gao, Jianjun %A Lea K. Davis %A Amy B. Hart %A Sanchez-Roige, Sandra %A Han, Lide %A John T. Cacioppo %A Abraham A Palmer %K Aged %K depression %K Extraversion, Psychological %K Female %K Genome-Wide Association Study %K Humans %K Loneliness %K Male %K Mental Disorders %K Middle Aged %K Neuroticism %K Phenotype %X

Loneliness is a complex biological trait that has been associated with numerous negative health outcomes. The measurement and environmental determinants of loneliness are well understood, but its genetic basis is not. Previous studies have estimated the heritability of loneliness between 37 and 55% using twins and family-based approaches, and have explored the role of specific candidate genes. We used genotypic and phenotypic data from 10 760 individuals aged ⩾50 years that were collected by the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to perform the first genome-wide association study of loneliness. No associations reached genome-wide significance (p>5 × 10). Furthermore, none of the previously published associations between variants within candidate genes (BDNF, OXTR, RORA, GRM8, CHRNA4, IL-1A, CRHR1, MTHFR, DRD2, APOE) and loneliness were replicated (p>0.05), despite our much larger sample size. We estimated the chip heritability of loneliness and examined coheritability between loneliness and several personality and psychiatric traits. Our estimates of chip heritability (14-27%) support a role for common genetic variation. We identified strong genetic correlations between loneliness, neuroticism, and a scale of 'depressive symptoms.' We also identified weaker evidence for coheritability with extraversion, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder. We conclude that loneliness, as defined in this study, is a modestly heritable trait that has a highly polygenic genetic architecture. The coheritability between loneliness and neuroticism may reflect the role of negative affectivity that is common to both traits. Our results also reflect the value of studies that probe the common genetic basis of salutary social bonds and clinically defined psychiatric disorders.

%B Neuropsychopharmacology %V 42 %P 811-821 %8 2017 Mar %G eng %U http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/npp.2016.197 %N 4 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27629369?dopt=Abstract %! Neuropsychopharmacology %R 10.1038/npp.2016.197 %0 Journal Article %J Psychosom Med %D 2016 %T Allostatic Load and Personality: A 4-Year Longitudinal Study. %A Yannick Stephan %A Angelina R Sutin %A Martina Luchetti %A Antonio Terracciano %K Aged %K Aged, 80 and over %K Aging %K Allostasis %K Anxiety Disorders %K Biomarkers %K Conscience %K Extraversion, Psychological %K Female %K Humans %K Longitudinal Studies %K Male %K Middle Aged %K Neuroticism %K Personality %X

OBJECTIVE: Dysregulation across multiple physiological systems, referred to as allostatic load, has pervasive consequences for an individual's health. The present study examined whether allostatic load is associated with personality and personality changes during a 4-year follow-up.

METHODS: A total of 5200 participants aged from 50 to 99 years (59.5% women, mean [standard deviation] age = 66.91 [8.88] years) from the Health and Retirement Study provided data on cardiovascular, metabolic, and immune markers at baseline and personality both at baseline and at 4 years later.

RESULTS: Higher allostatic load was related to higher neuroticism (β = 0.03, p = .042), lower extraversion (β = -0.06, p < .001), and lower conscientiousness (β = -0.06, p < .001) at baseline, and to declines in extraversion (β = -0.03, p = .007), conscientiousness (β = -0.04, p < .001), and agreeableness (β = -0.02, p = .020) over the 4-year period, controlling for demographic covariates. A significant quadratic relation between allostatic load and changes in openness (β = -0.03, p = .002) suggested that openness declines when individuals exceed a high level of cumulative physiological dysregulation. No association was found with changes in neuroticism.

CONCLUSIONS: Allostatic load is associated with personality change across adulthood and old age. The findings indicate that physiological dysregulation across multiple systems challenges personality stability and is associated with accelerated personality traits change.

%B Psychosom Med %I 78 %V 78 %P 302-10 %8 2016 04 %G eng %U https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26716813 %N 3 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26716813?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1097/PSY.0000000000000281 %0 Journal Article %J J Pers Soc Psychol %D 2016 %T Personality trait development at the end of life: Antecedents and correlates of mean-level trajectories. %A Wagner, Jenny %A Ram, Nilam %A Jacqui Smith %A Denis Gerstorf %K Aged %K Aged, 80 and over %K Aging %K Anxiety Disorders %K Berlin %K Extraversion, Psychological %K Female %K Health Status %K Human Development %K Humans %K Internal-External Control %K Longitudinal Studies %K Male %K Neuroticism %K Personality %K Social Support %X

Empirical evidence over the past 20 years has documented that key aspects of personality traits change during adulthood. However, it is essentially an open question whether and how traits change at the very end of life and what role health, cognitive performance, perceived control, and social factors play in those changes. To examine these questions, we applied growth models to 13-year longitudinal data obtained from now-deceased participants in the Berlin Aging Study (N = 463; age at baseline M = 85.9 years, SD = 8.4; 51% men). Results revealed that neuroticism, on average, increases (about 0.3 SD in the last 10 years) and that this increase becomes even steeper at the end of life. In contrast, extraversion and openness decline rather steadily at the end of life (about -0.5 SD in the last 10 years). Additionally, poor health manifested as a risk factor for declines in extraversion and openness late in life but not neuroticism. Similar to earlier phases of life, better cognitive performance related to more openness. More loneliness was associated with higher neuroticism, whereas more social activity was associated with higher levels of extraversion and openness. Intriguing additional insights indicated that more personal control was associated with higher levels of extraversion and openness, whereas the feeling that one's life is controlled by others was associated with higher neuroticism but also with higher openness closer to death. We discuss potential pathways by which health, cognitive performance, control, and social inclusion resources and risk factors affect personality development late in life. (PsycINFO Database Record

%B J Pers Soc Psychol %V 111 %P 411-29 %8 2016 09 %G eng %N 3 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26479363?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1037/pspp0000071 %0 Journal Article %J Am J Epidemiol %D 2013 %T Personality and all-cause mortality: individual-participant meta-analysis of 3,947 deaths in 76,150 adults. %A Markus Jokela %A G David Batty %A Solja T. Nyberg %A Virtanen, Marianna %A Nabi, Hermann %A Archana Singh-Manoux %A Mika Kivimäki %K Age Factors %K Anxiety Disorders %K Cohort Studies %K Extraversion, Psychological %K Female %K Humans %K Male %K Middle Aged %K Mortality %K Neuroticism %K Personality %K Prospective Studies %K Risk Factors %K Sex Factors %K Socioeconomic factors %X

Personality may influence the risk of death, but the evidence remains inconsistent. We examined associations between personality traits of the five-factor model (extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience) and the risk of death from all causes through individual-participant meta-analysis of 76,150 participants from 7 cohorts (the British Household Panel Survey, 2006-2009; the German Socio-Economic Panel Study, 2005-2010; the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey, 2006-2010; the US Health and Retirement Study, 2006-2010; the Midlife in the United States Study, 1995-2004; and the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study's graduate and sibling samples, 1993-2009). During 444,770 person-years at risk, 3,947 participants (54.4% women) died (mean age at baseline = 50.9 years; mean follow-up = 5.9 years). Only low conscientiousness-reflecting low persistence, poor self-control, and lack of long-term planning-was associated with elevated mortality risk when taking into account age, sex, ethnicity/nationality, and all 5 personality traits. Individuals in the lowest tertile of conscientiousness had a 1.4 times higher risk of death (hazard ratio = 1.37, 95% confidence interval: 1.18, 1.58) compared with individuals in the top 2 tertiles. This association remained after further adjustment for health behaviors, marital status, and education. In conclusion, of the higher-order personality traits measured by the five-factor model, only conscientiousness appears to be related to mortality risk across populations.

%B Am J Epidemiol %I 178 %V 178 %P 667-75 %8 2013 Sep 01 %G eng %U http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23911610 %N 5 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23911610?dopt=Abstract %2 PMC3755650 %4 Meta-analysis/Mortality/Personality/Personality/Psychology/Survival analysis/cross-national comparison/Death %$ 69154 %R 10.1093/aje/kwt170 %0 Journal Article %J J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci %D 2013 %T Personality profile of the children of long-lived parents. %A Evangelia E Antoniou %A Ambarish Dutta %A Kenneth M. Langa %A David Melzer %A David J Llewellyn %K Aged %K Extraversion, Psychological %K Fathers %K Female %K Health Status %K Humans %K Interviews as Topic %K Longevity %K Longitudinal Studies %K Male %K Mothers %K Parents %K Personality %K Personality Inventory %K Sex Factors %X

OBJECTIVES: Past research has shown that parental longevity is related to offspring physical health and longevity. Preliminary studies suggest that parental longevity may be linked to the offspring's personality traits. A comprehensive 5-factor personality model has been related to physical health, but the association with parental longevity has not yet been investigated. We used a 5-factor personality model to investigate the relationship between parental longevity and offspring personality.

METHOD: Data from the longitudinal Health and Retirement Study (HRS) was used in the analyses. Using the Midlife Development Inventory and the Life Orientation test, the relationship between parental attained age and offspring personality was assessed using regression models for both men and women.

RESULTS: Male offspring of long-lived fathers and mothers were more likely to be open to new experiences (p < .01) and be more extroverted (p = .03) compared with male offspring of short-lived fathers or mothers. Maternal or paternal attained age had no effect on the female offspring personality traits.

DISCUSSION: Personality is an important phenotype to consider when investigating genetic and environmental determinants of longevity. Further research is needed to investigate the potential of gender-specific mechanisms.

%B J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci %V 68 %P 730-8 %8 2013 Sep %G eng %N 5 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23419869?dopt=Abstract %3 23419869 %4 physical health/Longevity/personality/personality/Midlife Development Inventory/Life Orientatin Test %$ 68964 %R 10.1093/geronb/gbt003