Mechanisms by which childhood personality traits influence adult health status: educational attainment and healthy behaviors
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to test a life span health behavior model in which educational attainment and health behaviors (eating habits, smoking, and physical activity) were hypothesized as mechanisms to account for relations between teacher ratings of childhood personality traits and self-reported health status at midlife. DESIGN: The model was tested on 1,054 members of the Hawaii Personality and Health cohort, which is a population-based cohort participating in a longitudinal study of personality and health spanning 40 years from childhood to midlife. OUTCOME: Childhood Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Intellect-Imagination influenced adult health status indirectly through educational attainment, healthy eating habits, and smoking. Several direct effects of childhood traits on health behaviors and health status were also observed. CONCLUSION: The model extends past associations found between personality traits and health behaviors or health status by identifying a life-course pathway based on the health behavior model through which early childhood traits influence adult health status. The additional direct effects of personality traits indicate that health behavior mechanisms may not provide a complete account of relations between personality and health.
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High scores of teacher-assessments of Extraversion, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness during elementary school predict overall health status during midlife (less smoking, more exercise, better self-rated health) and indirectly affect health through educational attainment.
“Hampson, Goldberg, Vogt et al. [2007] find that high scores of teacher-assessments of Extraversion, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness during elementary school predict overall health status during midlife (less smoking, more exercise, better self-rated health) and indirectly affect health through educational attainment.”
From Personality Psychology and Economics (2011) · cites this paper as Hampson, Goldberg, Vogt et al. [2007]
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Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredSome findings support the notion of SES-personality correlation, suggesting that SES influences childhood personality development, personality influences school achievement, and educational and occupational experiences shape personality.
“Some findings support the notion of SES-personality correlation, suggesting that SES influences childhood personality development (11,12), personality influences school achievement (13,14), and educational (15) and occupational (16,17) experiences shape personality and that adult economic attainment may be linked to personality (18,19).”
From Personality, Socioeconomic Status, and All-Cause Mortality in the United States (2010) · cites this paper as [14]
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References 33 · Cited by 326
Research works printed but not linked: 3
- Adler NE, Marmot M, McEwen B, Stewart J, editors. Socioeconomic status and health in industrialized nations: Social, psychological, and biological pathways. New York Academy of Sciences; New York: 1999. [Google Scholar]
- Lemos-Giráldez S, Fidalgo-Aliste AM. Personality dispositions and health related habits and attitudes: A cross-sectional study. European Journal of Personality. 1997;11:197–209. [Google Scholar]
- U. S. DHHS . Reducing tobacco use: A report of the Surgeon General. U. S. Department of Health and Human Services; Atlanata, GA: 2000. [Google Scholar]
- Authors
- Hampson, S. E., Goldberg, L. R., Vogt, T. M., & Dubanoski, J. P.
- Affiliations
- Oregon Research Institute (US)
- Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research (US)
- Venue
- Health Psychology
- Published
- 2007
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 121-125
- ISSN
- 0278-6133 (ISSN-L)
- 1930-7810
- PMC
- PMC2239240
- OpenAlex
- W2058030485
- Cited by
- 326
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 58 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 26 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 28
- FWCI
- 13.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Health Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (AG20048)
- National Institute of Mental Health (MH55600)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health and Lifestyle Studies
- Keywords
- adult health status, educational attainment, health behavior, dietary habits, smoking, physical activity, agreeableness, conscientiousness, midlife, teacher ratings
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Career Mobility, Character, Child, Educational Status, Female, Hawaii, Health Status, Health Surveys, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Personality Assessment, Personality Development, Statistics as Topic, Cohort Studies, Health Behavior, Self Efficacy
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