The associations between personality traits and mental health in people with and without asthma

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the current study is to investigate the associations between personality traits and mental health in people with asthma and compare it with people without asthma.

Methods: Data came from UKHLS with 3929 patients with asthma with a mean age of 49.19 (S.D. = 15.23) years old (40.09 % males) and 22,889 healthy controls (42.90 % males) with a mean age of 45.60 (S.D. = 17.23) years old. First, the current study investigated the difference in Big Five personality traits and mental health between people with and without asthma using a predictive normative modeling approach with one-sample t-tests. Second, a hierarchical regression accompanied by two multiple regressions was used to determine how personality traits may relate to people with and without asthma differently.

Results: The current study found asthma patients have significantly higher Neuroticism, higher Openness, lower Conscientiousness, higher Extraversion, and worse mental health. Asthma status significantly moderated the association between Neuroticism and mental health with this relationship being stronger in people with asthma. Moreover, Neuroticism was positively related to worse mental health and Conscientiousness and Extraversion were negatively associated with worse mental health in people with and without asthma. However, Openness was negatively associated with worse mental health in people without asthma but not in people with asthma.

Limitations: The limitations of the current study include cross-sectional designs, self-reported measured, and limited generalizability to other countries.

Conclusion: Clinicians and health professionals should use findings from the current study to come up with prevention and interaction programs that promote mental health based on personality traits in asthma patients.

Keywords: Asthma; Big Five; GHQ-12; Mental health; Neuroticism; Personality.