Certain personality traits displayed in high school can predict onset of dementia happening 65 years later, according to a recent published study.
For the first time, a study has shown that personality traits as a teenager may predict dementia risk over 50 years later. The study, led by researchers at the University of Rochester, was published in JAMA Psychiatry.
Personality Traits: True Or Science Fiction?
Previous studies showed a link between early thinking abilities and later dementia.The current study, funded by National Institute on Aging (NIA), examined the effects of personality traits measured many decades before dementia begins to develop and long before it can be actually be diagnosed.
Personality Traits: Study Results
The researchers obtained data from 1960 for Project TALENT, the largest national sample of high school students. The average age of participants was 16 years old.Ten personality trait evaluations were administered. Sixty five years later, the Medicare records for these 82,000 participants decades in Project TALENT were examined. The researchers found that 2,543 met criteria for dementia by an average age of about 70!
The analysis showed that the risk of being diagnosed with dementia in later life was lower for teens who had higher levels of vigor, an energetic disposition, vitality, and a high level of physical activity. The traits of calmness and maturity were also associated with a lower risk of dementia. Not associated with a dementia diagnosis were personality traits like social sensitivity, sociability and leadership.
Personality Traits: Conclusions
Socioeconomic status did not influence the results observed for vigor. But for higher levels of socioeconomic status, the protection from dementia from calmness and maturity increased. At lower socioeconomic status, these two traits did not reduce risk for a dementia diagnosis. The authors noted that this finding suggests that lower socioeconomic status is linked to higher chronic stress, which could eliminate the benefits of traits like being calm and mature.
Interesting findings, indeed.
The researchers are extending their study by further examining how these traits of vigor, calmness and maturity protects against the development of dementia.