Chronic Neuroticism in Male Adults May Result in Higher Cardiometabolic Risk Factors

by | Apr 11, 2022 | 2022, Cardiovascular Health, Men's Health

Written by Taylor Woosley, Staff Writer. This 40-year observational study shows that subjects with higher neuroticism levels were associated with elevated cardiometabolic risk factors, regardless of age. Similarities were observed between assessments of worry and cardiometabolic risk factors. 

Men's healthNeuroticism is a personality trait that emphasizes negative affectivity, with a tendency to feel heightened levels of vulnerability to stress, inability to resist urges, and experiencing higher amounts of negative emotions 1. Neuroticism not only affects people’s ability to process emotions, it can also affect potential cognitive aspects, along with endocrine and auto-nomic disruptions 2. It is a robust risk factor for psychopathology and negative life circumstances, such as premature mortality 3. Increased risk of premature mortality arises from the correlation of neuroticism to many health-related traits, with an emphasis on mental disorders and two physical diseases: cardiovascular disease and hypertension 4.

Cardiovascular disease is currently the number one leading cause of death worldwide 5. Neuroticism may contribute to cardiovascular disease through both behavioral mechanisms (smoking, sedentary lifestyle) and different biological pathways (dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis which results in higher cortisol levels) 6. Chronically high cortisol levels have been linked to an increase in inflammation and oxidative stress. Neurotic people often experience higher levels of psychosocial stress which may lead to elevated blood pressure and a higher mortality risk for coronary heart disease 7.

Gathering data from the Normative Aging Study (NAS), Lee et. al conducted a longitudinal observational study that began in 1975 and continued for 4 decades to assess data gathered from 1561 men (mean age of 53 years, SD, 8.4 years). Subjects completed the Eysenck Personality Inventory-Short Form and a Worry assessment. Blood levels such as blood pressure, total cholesterol, BMI, and glucose, along with a physical examination, were conducted and measured at baseline and every 3 to 5 years to assess changes in subjects. Additionally, subject’s erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) was measured to indicate unhealthy levels of inflammation. Significant findings of the 4-decade study are as follows:

  • Cardiometabolic risk increased with age, with subjects age 65 or older having an average 3.78 (95% CI, 3.70-3.86) markers in the high-risk cardiometabolic category.
  • As subjects from ages 33 to 65 aged, high-risk cardiometabolic markers increased at a rate of 0.80 (95%CI, 0.74-0.86) per decade.
  • For subjects older than 65, a noticeable slower rate of high-risk biomarkers was observed, with a slower rate of 0.5 marker per decade (95%CI, 0.44-0.56).
  • Subjects with higher neuroticism levels were associated with higher cardiometabolic risk for all ages, with each additional SD of neuroticism being associated with a 0.10-point (95%CI, 0.01-0.07) elevated cardiometabolic risk potential.
  • When observing associations between assessment of worry and cardiometabolic risk factors, each additional SD of worry resulted in a 0.06-point (95%CI, -0.0003 to 0.13) higher cardiometabolic risk score.

Study observations highlight the influence of neuroticism and worry on overall cardiometabolic health. Further research should explore other anxiety facets and their potential influence on cardiovascular health to better understand the physical and psychological toll of these anxiety-related conditions. Limitations of the study include the lack of data on women and racial minorities, the middle age average of the subjects resulting in lack of data on younger participants, potential residual confounding by unassessed variables such as lifestyle habits and exercise, and the use of ESR as a measure of inflammation which is not the standard measurement used in studies to assess inflammation.

Source: Lee, Lewina O., Kevin J. Grimm, Avron Spiro III, and Laura D. Kubzansky. “Neuroticism, Worry, and Cardiometabolic Risk Trajectories: Findings From a 40‐Year Study of Men.” Journal of the American Heart Association 11, no. 3 (2022): e022006.

© 2022 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. JAHA is available at: www.ahajournals.org/journal/jaha

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Posted April 11, 2022.

Taylor Woosley studied biology at Purdue University before becoming a 2016 graduate of Columbia College Chicago with a major in Writing. She currently resides in Glen Ellyn, IL.

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