Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-v5vhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-13T19:22:44.918Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Self-reported and mother-rated personality traits at age 16 are associated with cognitive function measured concurrently and 30 years later

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 March 2021

Angelina R. Sutin Open the ORCID record for Angelina R. Sutin [Opens in a new window] ,
Yannick Stephan ,
Martina Luchetti ,
Damaris Aschwanden ,
Amanda A. Sesker ,
Páraic S. O'Súilleabháin  and
Antonio Terracciano
Angelina R. Sutin*
Affiliation:
Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, FL, USA
Yannick Stephan
Affiliation:
Euromov, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France
Martina Luchetti
Affiliation:
Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, FL, USA
Damaris Aschwanden
Affiliation:
Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, FL, USA
Amanda A. Sesker
Affiliation:
Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, FL, USA
Páraic S. O'Súilleabháin
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland Health Research Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
Antonio Terracciano
Affiliation:
Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, FL, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Angelina R. Sutin, E-mail: angelina.sutin@med.fsu.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Models of personality and health suggest that personality contributes to health outcomes across adulthood. Personality traits, such as neuroticism and conscientiousness, have long-term predictive power for cognitive impairment in older adulthood, a critical health outcome. Less is known about whether personality measured earlier in life is also associated with cognition across adulthood prior to dementia.

Methods

Using data from the British Cohort Study 1970 (N = 4218; 58% female), the current research examined the relation between self-reported and mother-rated personality at age 16 and cognitive function concurrently at age 16 and cognitive function measured 30 years later at age 46, and whether these traits mediate the relation between childhood social class and midlife cognition.

Results

Self-reported and mother-rated conscientiousness at age 16 were each associated with every cognitive measure at age 16 and most measures at age 46. Self-reported openness was likewise associated with better cognitive performance on all tasks at age 16 and prospectively predicted age 46 performance (mothers did not rate openness). Mother-rated agreeableness, but not self-reported, was associated with better cognitive performance at both time points. Adolescent personality mediated the relation between childhood social class and midlife cognitive function.

Conclusions

The current study advances personality and cognition by showing that (1) adolescent personality predicts midlife cognition 30 years later, (2) both self-reports and mother-ratings are important sources of information on personality associated with midlife cognition, and (3) adolescent personality may be one pathway through which the early life socioeconomic environment is associated with midlife cognition.

Keywords

Adolescent personalitylifespanlongitudinalmidlife cognitionobserver ratings
Type
Original Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 52 , Issue 16 , December 2022 , pp. 3854 - 3864
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Armon, G., & Shirom, A. (2011). The across-time associations of the five-factor model of personality with vigor and its facets using the bifactor model. Journal of Personality Assessment, 93(6), 618–627. doi:10.1080/00223891.2011.608753.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Aschwanden, D., Strickhouser, J. E., Luchetti, M., Stephan, Y., Sutin, A. R., & Terracciano, A.. (2021). Is personality associated with dementia risk? A meta-analytic investigation. Ageing Research Reviews, 67(2021), 101269. doi: 10.1016/j.arr.2021.101269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ayoub, M., Gosling, S. D., Potter, J., Shanahan, M., & Roberts, B. W. (2018). The relations between parental socioeconomic status, personality, and life outcomes. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 9(3), 338–352. doi:10.1177/1948550617707018CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bann, D., Johnson, W., Li, L., Kuh, D., & Hardy, R. (2017). Socioeconomic inequalities in body mass index across adulthood: Coordinated analyses of individual participant data from three British birth cohort studies initiated in 1946, 1958 and 1970. PLoS Medicine, 14(1), e1002214. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002214.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Caselli, R. J., Dueck, A. C., Locke, D. E., Henslin, B. R., Johnson, T. A., Woodruff, B. K., … Geda, Y. E. (2016). Impact of personality on cognitive aging: A prospective cohort study. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 22(7), 765–776. doi: 10.1017/S1355617716000527.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chapman, B. P., Benedict, R. H., Lin, F., Roy, S., Federoff, H. J., & Mapstone, M. (2017). Personality and performance in specific neurocognitive domains among older persons. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 25(8), 900–908. doi:10.1016/j.jagp.2017.03.006.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chapman, B. P., Huang, A., Peters, K., Horner, E., Manly, J., Bennett, D. A., & Lapham, S. (2020). Association between high school personality phenotype and dementia 54 years later in results from a national US sample. JAMA Psychiatry, 77(2), 148–154. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.3120.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chong, S. Y., Chittleborough, C. R., Gregory, T., Lynch, J., Mittinty, M., & Smithers, L. G. (2019). The controlled direct effect of temperament at 2–3 years on cognitive and academic outcomes at 6–7 years. PLoS One, 14(6), e0204189. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0204189.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Costa, P. T. Jr., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Revised NEO personality inventory (NEO-PI-R) and the NEO five-factor inventory (NEO-FFI) professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.Google Scholar
Curtis, R. G., Windsor, T. D., & Soubelet, A. (2015). The relationship between Big-5 personality traits and cognitive ability in older adults – A review. Neuropsychology, Development, Cognition B: Aging, Neuropsychology and Cognition, 22(1), 42–71. doi:10.1080/13825585.2014.888392.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Damian, R. I., Spengler, M., Sutu, A., & Roberts, B. W. (2019). Sixteen going on sixty-six: A longitudinal study of personality stability and change across 50 years. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 117(3), 674–695. doi:10.1037/pspp0000210.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DeYoung, C. G., Quilty, L. C., Peterson, J. B., & Gray, J. R. (2014). Openness to experience, intellect, and cognitive ability. Journal of Personality Assessment, 96(1), 46–52. doi: 10.1080/00223891.2013.806327.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dumfart, B., & Neubauer, A. C. (2016). Conscientiousness is the most powerful noncognitive predictor of school achievement in adolescents. Journal of Individual Differences, 37, 8–15. doi: 10.1027/1614-0001/a000182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elliott, J., & Shepherd, P. (2006). Cohort profile: 1970 British Birth Cohort (BCS70). International Journal of Epidemiology, 35(4), 836–843. doi:10.1093/ije/dyl174.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Friedman, H. S., Tucker, J. S., Tomlinson-Keasey, C., Schwartz, J. E., Wingard, D. L., & Criqui, M. H. (1993). Does childhood personality predict longevity? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(1), 176–185.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hampson, S. E., Edmonds, G. W., Goldberg, L. R., Dubanoski, J. P., & Hillier, T. A. (2013). Childhood conscientiousness relates to objectively measured adult physical health four decades later. Health Psychology, 32(8), 925–928. doi:10.1037/a0031655.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hayes, A. F. (2018). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Jackson, J. J., Connolly, J. J., Garrison, S. M., Leveille, M. M., & Connolly, S. L. (2015). Your friends know how long you will live: A 75-year study of peer-rated personality traits. Psychological Science, 26(3), 335–340. doi:10.1177/0956797614561800.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lamb, M. E., Chuang, S. S., Wessels, H., Broberg, A. G., & Hwang, C. P. (2002). Emergence and construct validation of the big five factors in early childhood: A longitudinal analysis of their ontogeny in Sweden. Child Development, 73, 1517–1524. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00487.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larson, K., Russ, S. A., Nelson, B. B., Olson, L. M., & Halfon, N. (2015). Cognitive ability at kindergarten entry and socioeconomic status. Pediatrics, 135(2), e440–e448. doi: 10.1542/peds.2014-0434.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Livingston, G., Sommerlad, A., Orgeta, V., Costafreda, S. G., Huntley, J., Ames, D., … Mukadam, N. (2017). Dementia prevention, intervention, and care. Lancet (London, England), 390(10113), 2673–2734. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31363-6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luchetti, M., Terracciano, A., Stephan, Y., & Sutin, A. R. (2016). Personality and cognitive decline in older adults: Data from a longitudinal sample and meta-analysis. Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 71, 591–601. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbu184.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luo, Y., & Waite, L. J. (2005). The impact of childhood and adult SES on physical, mental, and cognitive well-being in later life. Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 60(2), S93–S101. doi:10.1093/geronb/60.2.S93.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Noftle, E. E., & Robins, R. W. (2007). Personality predictors of academic outcomes: Big five correlates of GPA and SAT scores. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93(1), 116–130. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.93.1.116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Súilleabháin, P. S., Howard, S., & Hughes, B. M. (2018a). Openness to experience and stress responsivity: An examination of cardiovascular and underlying hemodynamic trajectories within an acute stress exposure. PLoS One, 13(6), e0199221. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0199221.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ó Súilleabháin, P. S., Howard, S., & Hughes, B. M. (2018b). Openness to experience and adapting to change: Cardiovascular stress habituation to change in acute stress exposure. Psychophysiology, 55(5), e13023. doi:10.1111/psyp.13023.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parsons, S. (2014). Childhood cognition in the 1970 British Cohort Study. Retrieved from Centre for Longitudinal Studies: https://cls.ucl.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/BCS70-Childhood-cognition-in-the-1970-British-Cohort-Study-Nov-2014-final.pdf.Google Scholar
Prevoo, T., & ter Weel, B. (2015). The importance of early conscientiousness for socio-economic outcomes: Evidence from the British cohort study. Oxford Economic Papers, 67, 918–948. doi: 10.1093/oep/gpv022.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rammstedt, B., Danner, D., & Martin, S. (2016). The association between personality and cognitive ability: Going beyond simple effects. Journal of Research in Personality, 62, 39–44. doi: 10.1016/j.jrp.2016.03.005.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richardson, M., & Abraham, C. (2009). Conscientiousness and achievement motivation predict performance. European Journal of Personality, 23(7), 589–605. doi:10.1002/per.732CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rikoon, S. H., Brenneman, M., Kim, L. E., Khorramdel, L., MacCann, C., Burrus, J., & Roberts, R. D. (2016). Facets of conscientiousness and their differential relationships with cognitive ability factors. Journal of Research in Personality, 61, 22–34. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2016.01.002.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, B. W., Luo, J., Briley, D. A., Chow, P. I., Su, R., & Hill, P. L. (2017). A systematic review of personality trait change through intervention. Psychological Bulletin, 143(2), 117–141. doi: 10.1037/bul0000088.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rohrer, J. M., & Lucas, R. E. (2018). Only so many hours: Correlations between personality and daily time use in a representative German panel. Collabra: Psychology, 4(1). doi: 10.1525/collabra.112.Google Scholar
Segerstrom, S. C. (2020). Personality and incident Alzheimer's disease: Theory, evidence, and future directions. Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 75(3), 513–521. doi:10.1093/geronb/gby063. doi:10.1093/geronb/gby063.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sharp, E. S., Reynolds, C. A., Pedersen, N. L., & Gatz, M. (2010). Cognitive engagement and cognitive aging: Is openness protective? Psychology and Aging, 25(1), 60–73. doi:10.1037/a0018748CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Soto, C. J., John, O. P., Gosling, S. D., & Potter, J. (2011). Age differences in personality traits from 10 to 65: Big five domains and facets in a large cross-sectional sample. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100(2), 330–348. doi:10.1037/a0021717.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soubelet, A., & Salthouse, T. A. (2011). Personality-cognition relations across adulthood. Developmental Psychology, 47(2), 303–310. doi:10.1037/a0021816.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stephan, Y., Boiché, J., Canada, B., & Terracciano, A. (2014). Association of personality with physical, social, and mental activities across the lifespan: Findings from US and French samples. British Journal of Psychology, 105, 564–580. doi:10.1111/bjop.12056.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sutin, A. R., Luchetti, M., Stephan, Y., Robins, R. W., & Terracciano, A. (2017). Parental educational attainment and adult offspring personality: An intergenerational lifespan approach to the origin of adult personality traits. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113, 144–166. doi: 10.1037/pspp0000137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sutin, A. R., Stephan, Y., Damian, R. I., Luchetti, M., Strickhouser, J. E., & Terracciano, A. (2019). Five-factor model personality traits and verbal fluency in 10 cohorts. Psychology and Aging, 34, 362–373. doi:10.1037/pag0000351.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sutin, A. R., Stephan, Y., Luchetti, M., Strickhouser, J. E., Aschwanden, D., & Terracciano, A. (2021). The association between five factor model personality traits and verbal and numeric reasoning. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition. doi:10.1080/13825585.2021.1872481.Google ScholarPubMed
Sutin, A. R., Stephan, Y., Luchetti, M., & Terracciano, A. (2019). Five-factor model personality traits and cognitive function in five domains in older adulthood. BMC Geriatrics, 19(1), 343. doi: 10.1186/s12877-019-1362-1.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sutin, A. R., Stephan, Y., & Terracciano, A. (2018). Facets of conscientiousness and risk of dementia. Psychological Medicine, 48, 974–982. doi:10.1017/S0033291717002306.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sutin, A. R., Terracciano, A., Kitner-Triolo, M. H., Uda, M., Schlessinger, D., & Zonderman, A. B. (2011). Personality traits prospectively predict verbal fluency in a lifespan sample. Psychology and Aging, 26(4), 994–999. doi:10.1037/a0024276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Terracciano, A., Stephan, Y., Luchetti, M., Albanese, E., & Sutin, A. R. (2017). Personality traits and risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 89, 22–27. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2017.01.011.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Trautwein, U., Lüdtke, O., Roberts, B. W., Schnyder, I., & Niggli, A. (2009). Different forces, same consequence: Conscientiousness and competence beliefs are independent predictors of academic effort and achievement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97(6), 1115–1128. doi: 10.1037/a0017048.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Uttl, B., White, C. A., Wong Gonzalez, D., McDouall, J., & Leonard, C. A. (2013). Prospective memory, personality, and individual differences. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 130. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wettstein, M., Tauber, B., Kuźma, E., & Wahl, H. W. (2017). The interplay between personality and cognitive ability across 12 years in middle and late adulthood: Evidence for reciprocal associations. Psychology and Aging, 32(3), 259–277. doi:10.1037/pag0000166.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Sutin et al. supplementary material

Sutin et al. supplementary material

Download Sutin et al. supplementary material(File)
File 31.8 KB