The Relationship of Personality and Behavior Change in a Physical Activity Intervention: The Role of Conscientiousness and Healthy Neuroticism

The relationship between NEO-five personality traits and sleep-related characteristics: A systematic review and meta-analysis

An increasing body of research has suggested personality traits as a possible predisposing factor for individual differences in sleep pattern and problems. However, the findings were mixed and there remained a lack of a quantitative synthesis. As searched in the four databases (Web of Science, Embase, PsycINFO, PubMed), 60 studies (n = 73,540; female = 60 %) that used standardized measures to evaluate the relationship between NEO-five personality traits and sleep-related outcomes (sleep quality and sleep duration) were identified. Meta-analyses were performed using random-effects model and the results suggested that poor sleep quality was associated with a higher level of neuroticism (r = 0.287) but a lower degree of openness (r = -0.042), conscientiousness (r = -0.132), extraversion (r = -0.086), and agreeableness (r = -0.064). Shorter sleep duration was found to be associated with a higher level of neuroticism (r = 0.066) but not with other personality dimensions. The findings were mainly limited to the general population. Future research should investigate whether comparable patterns of associations are present in the clinical populations. There is also a need for more research with a prospective design utilizing objective sleep measurements and to explore the mechanisms underlying the association of personality factors with sleep-related characteristics, especially sleep quality and duration.

Influences of motivation and personality on physical activity behavior: A systematic review

Physical activity, when maintained at specific levels, offers numerous health benefits. However, contemporary trends indicate a decline in physical activity engagement. Interventions incorporating motivation and personality factors present potential methods for practitioners to enhance participation in physical activity behaviors. Both motivation and physical activity constitute psychological constructs that shape behaviors. Consequently, gaining a deeper understanding of the roles played by these constructs in either fostering or hindering physical activity is imperative. This study aims to analyze scholarly articles to identify the primary motives, personality traits, and their combined influence on physical activity behaviors. The review provides a synthesis of findings from 20 scholarly articles, delving into the intricate relationship between motivation, personality traits, and their collective impact on exercise participation and adherence. Results indicate that individuals with specific motivational and personality characteristics are more likely to demonstrate and engage in physical activity behaviors.

Evaluating the performance of personality-based profiling in predicting physical activity

BACKGROUND

Profiling or clustering individuals based on personality and other characteristics is a common statistical approach used in marketing, medicine, and social sciences. This approach improves data simplicity, supports the implementation of a data-driven decision-making process, and guides intervention strategies, such as personalized care. However, the clustering process involves loss of information owing to the discretization of continuous variables. Although any loss of information may be practically or pragmatically acceptable, the amount of information lost and its influence on predicting external outcomes have not yet been systematically investigated.

METHODS

We assessed the accuracy of predicting physical activity using the clustering approach and compared it with the dimensional approach, where variables are used as continuous regressors. This analysis is based on survey data from a sample of 20,573 individuals regarding physical activity and psychological traits, including the Big-Five personality traits.

RESULTS

A four-cluster solution, supported by the standard criterion for determining the number of clusters, achieved no more than 60-70% prediction accuracy of the dimensional approach employing the raw dimensional scale as explanatory variables.

CONCLUSION

The cluster solution suggested by conventional statistical criteria may not be optimal when clusters are used to predict external outcomes.

Associations Between Big-Five Personality Traits and Attitudes and Perception Towards Health Behaviours

Despite efforts to promote exercise and healthy diets, global prevalence of obesity continues to rise. This pervasiveness of obesity is alarming as it is a key contributing factor of ischemic heart disease, a leading cause of death worldwide. The issue of obesity is exacerbated in Malaysia, where 50.1% of all adults were considered obese in 2020. Given the severity of the issue, the identification of alternative factors to promote exercise becomes necessary. The current study examined how personality traits are related to perceptions and behaviours towards health. A total of 401 Malaysian university students completed questionnaires which assessed their demographics, health perceptions, and health behaviours. Additionally, the Big-Five Inventory was administered to examine personality traits. Regarding personality traits and their associations to behaviours: Conscientiousness was positively associated with Exercise Adherence and Healthy Diet but negatively with Fears Related to Exercise; Neuroticism had a positive relation with Perceived Lack of Resources and Fears Related to Exercise but a negative relationship with Adherence to Exercise; Extraversion only had a negative association with Healthy Diet; Agreeableness was negatively associated with Substance Use; and lastly, Openness had a positive relationship with Adherence to Exercise but a negative association with Perceived Lack of Resources. Further exploration on the impacts of attitudes and perspectives towards exercise and healthy diets would be beneficial in identifying alternative and potentially more effective approaches in promoting healthy behaviours.

The relationship between neuroticism and social aggression: a moderated mediation model

Neuroticism appears to be a factor that triggers social aggression, but the relationship between neuroticism and social aggression and its underlying mechanisms is unclear. Questionnaire data from 942 college students ranging in age from 17 to 24 (Mage = 20.33, SD = 1.03) were analysed to assess whether depression symptoms mediated the relationship between neuroticism and social aggression, and to test a moderating effect of perceived social support. Results showed that neuroticism positively predicted social aggression and this association was mediated by depression symptoms. Moderation was found for the association between neuroticism and depression symptoms, as well as between neuroticism and social aggression, and that neuroticism had a stronger predictive effect on depression symptoms and social aggression under low compared to high perceived social support. These findings may inform prevention and intervention efforts to reduce social aggression.

Why Should Diabetic Women Be Active?-The Role of Personality, Self-Esteem, Body-Esteem, and Imagery

Diabetes is one of the fastest spreading diseases in the 21st century. The aim of the study is twofold: (1) to find differences in personality traits, self-esteem, body-esteem, and imagery between healthy women and women with diabetes; (2) to verify whether there are differences in the analyzed factors among women with diabetes who engage in sports compared to those who do not. We used 3 questionnaires: Imagination in Sport-short form, Self-Esteem Scale (SES), and BFIS Personality, which were tested online. We found that women with diabetes were characterized by significantly higher neuroticism, lower extraversion, and higher conscientiousness (marginally significant). We also found that women with diabetes who practice sport rated their bodies more highly in terms of sexual attractiveness and made better use of imagined affirmations than women without diabetes who were not active. Our study provides new insights into diabetics in terms of women navigating the disease.

Exploring Wellness Through Concept Analysis

Modern wellness is a concept that has been discussed in the literature since the 1960's. To better understand wellness complexities in a school setting, a concept analysis was conducted using a modified version of Walker and Avant's method incorporating the nursing paradigm in the implications. A literature review was conducted and except for background information, the publication dates were limited to 2017-2022. Key search terms included "wellness," "school wellness," "wellness concept." Additional literature reviews were conducted based on data related to the definitions, attributes, antecedents, and consequences of wellness that were collected from the reviewed studies. Defining attributes of wellness included healthy habits, conscientiousness, and optimum state of health. The antecedents, consequences, and empirical referents of wellness were identified with examples from the literature and case exemplars. Wellness is a dynamic process that has unique implications for school health and school nurses. This concept analysis lays the foundation for future research incorporating nursing domains.

Testing interventions to reduce clinical inertia in the treatment of hypertension: rationale and design of a pragmatic randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Clinical inertia, or failure to intensify treatment when indicated, leads to suboptimal blood pressure control. Interventions to overcome inertia and increase antihypertensive prescribing have been modestly successful in part because their effectiveness varies based on characteristics of the provider, the patient, or the provider-patient interaction. Understanding for whom each intervention is most effective could help target interventions and thus increase their impact.

METHODS

This three-arm, randomized trial tests the effectiveness of 2 interventions to reduce clinical inertia in hypertension prescribing compared to usual care. Forty five primary care providers (PCPs) caring for patients with hypertension in need of treatment intensification completed baseline surveys that assessed behavioral traits and were randomized to one of three arms: 1) Pharmacist e-consult, in which a clinical pharmacist provided patient-specific recommendations for hypertension medication management to PCPs in advance of upcoming visits, 2) Social norming dashboards that displayed PCP's hypertension control rates compared to those of their peers, or 3) Usual care (no intervention). The primary outcome was the rate of intensification of hypertension treatment. We will compare this outcome between study arms and then evaluate the association between characteristics of providers, patients, their clinical interactions, and intervention responsiveness.

RESULTS

Forty-five primary care providers were enrolled and randomized: 16 providers and 173 patients in the social norming dashboards arm, 15 providers and 143 patients in the pharmacist e-consult arm, and 14 providers and 150 patients in the usual care arm. On average, the mean patient age was 64 years, 47% were female, and 73% were white. Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of patients were similar across arms, with the exception of more Hispanic patients in the usual care arm and fewest in the pharmacist e-consult arm.

CONCLUSIONS

This study can help identify interventions to reduce inertia in hypertension care and potentially identify the characteristics of patients, providers, or patient-provider interactions to understand for whom each intervention would be most beneficial.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT, Registered: NCT04603560).

Effects of a digital self-control intervention to increase physical activity in middle-aged adults

The goal of this study was to test the effects of a 7-week digital self-control intervention to increase physical activity using a two-arm randomized controlled trial. The self-control treatment group showed greater increases in self-reported physical activity (MET's) than the comparison group. Both groups significantly increased their daily steps and self-control. Participants with higher initial levels of conscientiousness were better able to increase their daily steps during the intervention and participants who increased more in self-control showed greater increases in MET's. These moderation effects were more pronounced in the self-control treatment group as compared to the comparison group. This study shows that the effects of physical activity interventions may depend on personality characteristics and outcomes may be improved when individual differences are considered and targeted.

Exercise and Behavior: Adjuncts to Pro-Myogenic Compounds for Enhancing Mobility in Older Adults

Physical activity and exercise training exert multiple and varied beneficial effects on a wide array of human tissues, making them therapeutic modalities that can prevent and treat age-related decline in physical function. The Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium is currently working to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying how physical activity improves and preserves health. Exercise training, especially when task specific, is an effective intervention for improving skeletal muscle performance and physical function in everyday activities. As seen elsewhere in this supplement, its adjunctive use with pro-myogenic pharmaceuticals may prove to be synergistic in effect. Behavioral strategies aiming to promote exercise participation and sustain adherence are being considered as additional adjuncts to further improve physical function in comprehensive, multicomponent interventions. One application of this combined strategy may be to target multimodal pro-myogenic therapies in prehabilitation to optimize physical preoperative health to enhance functional recovery postsurgery. We summarize here recent progress on biological mechanisms of exercise training, behavioral approaches to exercise participation, and the role task-specific exercise plays in synergy with pharmacologic therapies with a particular focus on older adults. Physical activity and exercise training in multiple settings should serve as the baseline standard of care around which other therapeutic interventions should be considered when the goal is restoring or increasing physical function.

Factors Associated With Changes in Objectively Measured Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity in Patients After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Prospective Cohort Study

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to clarify factors affecting changes in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in patients 1 to 3 months after undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

METHODS

In this prospective cohort study, we enrolled patients aged <75 years who underwent PCI. MVPA was objectively measured using an accelerometer at 1 and 3 months after hospital discharge. Factors associated with increased MVPA (≥150 min/wk at 3 mo) were analyzed in participants with MVPA < 150 minutes per week at 1 month. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to explore variables potentially associated with increasing MVPA, using MVPA ≥ 150 minutes per week at 3 months as the dependent variable. Factors associated with decreased MVPA (<150 min/wk at 3 mo) were also analyzed in participants with MVPA ≥ 150 minutes per week at 1 month. Logistic regression analysis was performed to explore factors of declining MVPA, using MVPA < 150 minutes per week at 3 months as the dependent variable.

RESULTS

We analyzed 577 patients (median age 64 y, 13.5% female, and 20.6% acute coronary syndrome). Increased MVPA was significantly associated with participation in outpatient cardiac rehabilitation (odds ratio 3.67; 95% confidence interval, 1.22-11.0), left main trunk stenosis (13.0; 2.49-68.2), diabetes mellitus (0.42; 0.22-0.81), and hemoglobin (1.47, per 1 SD; 1.09-1.97). Decreased MVPA was significantly associated with depression (0.31; 0.14-0.74) and Self-Efficacy for Walking (0.92, per 1 point; 0.86-0.98).

CONCLUSIONS

Identifying patient factors associated with changes in MVPA may provide insight into behavioral changes and help with individualized PA promotion.

Effect of health education-based yoga & naturopathy lifestyle interventions on personality of patients with non-communicable diseases: A randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Personality traits play a role in the progression and management of chronic diseases. However, a change in personality is seldom considered an outcome in the management of chronic diseases. The present study explored if a health education-based yoga & naturopathy lifestyle intervention group (HYNLG) can induce change in the personality traits, vitality, quality of life (QoL), and satisfaction in patients with non-communicable diseases compared to a therapy-centric yoga & naturopathy lifestyle intervention (TYNLG).

METHODS

This randomized control trial included 56 participants who were equally randomized into the HYNLG and TYNLG groups. Both groups received a 10-day inpatient regimen that included hydrotherapy, mud therapy, diet therapy, supervised fasting, sunbathing, acupressure, and massage therapy. Additionally, HYNLG received a 10-day orientation (1 h/d) on concepts centered around belief systems, lifestyle changes, and their impact on health. Vedic Personality Inventory, SF-12 QoL questionnaire, visual analog scale, Hamilton Anxiety Inventory, and Visit-Specific Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire were used as outcome measures. The changes between the time points were analyzed using parametric and non-parametric tests, and Pearson correlation was used to investigate the association between the variables.

RESULTS

The Sattva (balance and stability) personality trait has significantly increased in HYNLG, while the Rajas (activity and imbalance) and Tamas (inertia and dullness) personalities have decreased. HYNLG also demonstrated a significant improvement in mental QoL, vitality, anxiety reduction, and patient satisfaction when compared to TYNLG.

CONCLUSION

These findings may have serious clinical and public health implications as they provide insights on the usefulness of introducing a health education component into lifestyle modification programs.

HEXACO personality factors as predictors of physical activity, resting heart rate, body mass index, and healthy lifestyle behaviors

BACKGROUND

Personality traits are known factors that may influence levels of physical activity and other healthy lifestyle measures and behaviors that ultimately lead to health problems later in life.

Participants And Procedure

The aim of this study was to examine the association between personality traits (HEXACO) and levels of physical activity and resting heart rate (RHR) - measured using Fitbits, BMI, and a self-reported whole-person healthy lifestyle score for N = 2580 college students. Data were collected and analyzed for students enrolled in a University Success type course from August 2017 to May 2021. The relationships between HEXACO personality traits and various physical activity and healthy lifestyle behaviors were analyzed by building several multiple regression models using R version 4.0.2.

Results

In general, students who are extraverted were more physically active and students who are more open to experience had a higher RHR, even when controlling for gender. Females and males however had different profiles as to how personality influenced physical activity and other health-related measures. Male extraverts with high negative emotionality scores tend to be more physically active, whereas females tend to be more physically active when they were high in extroversion and conscientiousness, and low in openness to experience. BMI values were higher for female participants with high honesty-humility and low agreeableness and conscientiousness scores. Females also had a lower RHR for high honesty-humility and emotionality and low conscientiousness scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Personality can influence levels of physical activity, RHR, and BMI. This is especially true of women. Being aware of one's personality and the relationship of personality traits to levels of physical activity and other measures of leading a healthy lifestyle can be beneficial in determining strategies to improve long-term health outcomes.

Does Personality Moderate the Efficacy of Physical and Cognitive Training Interventions? A 12-month Randomized Controlled Trial in Older Adults

This study investigated whether personality traits moderate the effects of a 12-month physical or combined physical and cognitive training interventions on physical and cognitive functioning. Participants were community-dwelling 70-85-year-old adults (n=314). They were randomly assigned to physical training (weekly supervised walking/balance and strength/balance training, home exercises 2-3x/wk and moderate aerobic activity) or to a physical and cognitive training group (the same physical training and computer training on executive functions 3-4x/wk). The outcomes assessed at baseline and post-intervention were physical (maximum gait speed, six-minute walking distance, dual-task cost on gait speed) and cognitive functioning (Stroop, Trail-Making Test-B, verbal fluency, CERAD total score). Personality traits (NEO-PI-3, n=239) were assessed post-intervention. Personality traits did not moderate intervention effects on physical functioning. Higher openness was associated with greater improvement in CERAD scores, especially in the physical and cognitive training group (group×time×trait B=-.08, p=.038). Lower neuroticism (time×trait B=-.04, p=.021) and higher conscientiousness (time×trait B=.04, p=.027) were associated with greater improvement in CERAD scores in both groups. Personality traits had mostly null moderating effects across physical and cognitive outcomes, with the possible exception of CERAD score. Individuals with more adaptive personality traits gained more on global cognitive scores during a 12-month training intervention.

Who uses mHealth apps? Identifying user archetypes of mHealth apps

Objective

This study aims to explore the user archetypes of health apps based on average usage and psychometrics.

Methods

The study utilized a dataset collected through a dedicated smartphone application and contained usage data, i.e. the timestamps of each app session from October 2020 to April 2021. The dataset had 129 participants for mental health apps usage and 224 participants for physical health apps usage. Average daily launches, extraversion, neuroticism, and satisfaction with life were the determinants of the mental health apps clusters, whereas average daily launches, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and satisfaction with life were for physical health apps.

Results

Two clusters of mental health apps users were identified using k-prototypes clustering: help-seeking and maintenance users and three clusters of physical health apps users were identified: happy conscious occasional, happy neurotic occasional, and unhappy neurotic frequent users.

Conclusion

The findings from this study helped to understand the users of health apps based on the frequency of usage, personality, and satisfaction with life. Further, with these findings, apps can be tailored to optimize user experience and satisfaction which may help to increase user retention. Policymakers may also benefit from these findings since understanding the populations' needs may help to better invest in effective health technology.

Passion for an activity and its role on affect: Does personality and the type of activity matter?

While personality traits play a crucial role in a person's general affect, passion for an activity has been shown to partially mediate this relationship, with harmonious passion generally related to positive affect and obsessive passion to negative affect. However, activities are not all the same with some characterized as having "positive" consequences while others as having "negative" consequences. This study examines how passions manifest for two popular activities: physical exercise, an activity with in general "positive" consequences, and social media, an activity with potentially both "positive" and "negative" consequences. We replicate and extend earlier studies which have relied on baskets of heterogenous self-reported activities without distinguishing between activities. We find that, when fully controlling for personality, obsessive passion for physical exercise is positively associated with positive affect while obsessive passion for social media is positively associated with negative affect. However, harmonious passion for either activity has no significant association with any affect. Further, we find that passions for physical exercise relate with conscientiousness while passions for social media with neuroticism.

Healthy Lifestyle Behavior, Goal Setting, and Personality among Older Adults: A Synthesis of Literature Reviews and Interviews

BACKGROUND

Despite the well-known health benefits of adopting a healthy lifestyle, older adults' self-determination, goals, and motivation, as well as other personality factors, are known to influence their healthy lifestyle behaviors, yet these interactions have rarely been discussed.

METHOD

The literature that investigated and discussed the interaction of personality, goals, and healthy lifestyle behaviors among older adults was reviewed. In addition, interview responses from older adults regarding their experiences in participating in a real-life physical activity intervention and its relationship with their personality traits and goal setting were synthesized using content analysis.

RESULTS

The current review highlights the relationship between healthy living practices, goal setting, and personalities, and it is backed up and expanded upon by interviews with participants. People with different personality types are likely to have diverse views on HLBs. Individuals who are more conscientiousness or extraverted are more likely to adopt HLBs than those who are not.

DISCUSSION

It is suggested that a meta-analysis should be conducted on the relationship between personality, goal setting, and physical exercise or other specific HLBs. In addition, future research should focus on various types of HLB therapies that take into account personality and goal setting.

Characterizing Patterns of Nurses' Daily Sleep Health: a Latent Profile Analysis

BACKGROUND

Nursing is a demanding occupation characterized by dramatic sleep disruptions. Yet most studies on nurses' sleep treat sleep disturbances as a homogenous construct and do not use daily measures to address recall biases. Using person-centered analyses, we examined heterogeneity in nurses' daily sleep patterns in relation to psychological and physical health.

METHODS

Nurses (N = 392; 92% female, mean age = 39.54 years) completed 14 daily sleep diaries to assess sleep duration, efficiency, quality, and nightmare severity, as well as measures of psychological functioning and a blood draw to assess inflammatory markers interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP). Using recommended fit indices and a 3-step approach, latent profile analysis was used to identify the best-fitting class solution.

RESULTS

The best-fitting solution suggested three classes: (1) "Poor Overall Sleep" (11.2%), (2) "Nightmares Only" (8.4%), (3) "Good Overall Sleep" (80.4%). Compared to nurses in the Good Overall Sleep class, nurses in the Poor Overall Sleep or Nightmares Only classes were more likely to be shift workers and had greater stress, PTSD symptoms, depression, anxiety, and insomnia severity. In multivariate models, every one-unit increase in insomnia severity and IL-6 was associated with a 33% and a 21% increase in the odds of being in the Poor Overall Sleep compared to the Good Overall Sleep class, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Nurses with more severe and diverse sleep disturbances experience worse health and may be in greatest need of sleep-related and other clinical interventions.

Personality Change Profiles and Changes in Cognition Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults

Research on the relationship between personality traits and cognitive abilities has primarily used cross-sectional designs and considered personality traits individually in relation to cognitive dimensions. This study (N = 2,652) examined the relationship between Big Five personality change profiles and change in cognitive factors, episodic memory and executive functioning. Latent profile analysis was used to capture patterns of change across the Big Five traits. Three profiles of personality change were defined: Decreasers, Maintainers, and Increasers. The Decreasers declined more in episodic memory compared to the Increasers and Maintainers. Also, the Decreasers declined more in executive functioning compared to the Increasers, but not the Maintainers. The findings advance our understanding of the links between patterns of personality change and cognitive aging.

Association between behavioral phenotypes and sustained use of smartphones and wearable devices to remotely monitor physical activity

Smartphones and wearable devices can be used to remotely monitor health behaviors, but little is known about how individual characteristics influence sustained use of these devices. Leveraging data on baseline activity levels and demographic, behavioral, and psychosocial traits, we used latent class analysis to identify behavioral phenotypes among participants randomized to track physical activity using a smartphone or wearable device for 6 months following hospital discharge. Four phenotypes were identified: (1) more agreeable and conscientious; (2) more active, social, and motivated; (3) more risk-taking and less supported; and (4) less active, social, and risk-taking. We found that duration and consistency of device use differed by phenotype for wearables, but not smartphones. Additionally, "at-risk" phenotypes 3 and 4 were more likely to discontinue use of a wearable device than a smartphone, while activity monitoring in phenotypes 1 and 2 did not differ by device type. These findings could help to better target remote-monitoring interventions for hospitalized patients.

Targeting self-control as a behavior change mechanism to increase physical activity: Study protocol of a randomized controlled trial

Despite the highly publicized beneficial effects of physical activity, 51.1% of middle-aged US adults do not achieve the recommended minimum of aerobic physical activity needed to maintain health. A sedentary lifestyle can be attributed in part to a lack of self-control and there is some evidence that self-control strategies can be improved with targeted interventions. The overall aim of this study is to test self-control as a behavior change mechanism for physical activity and to investigate whether a smartphone-based self-control intervention can increase physical activity among sedentary middle-aged adults. This protocol describes the design of a randomized controlled trial with two experimental conditions: The self-control treatment group and the control group. Both groups track their daily physical activity using a Fitbit step counter for eight weeks. Additionally, the self-control intervention group receives a 7-week smartphone-based self-control intervention to learn strategies how to potentiate desirable impulses or weaken undesirable ones. It is expected that the self-control treatment group will show greater increases in physical activity and that changes last longer compared to the control group. All participants will be assessed at pretest (baseline), at the end of each week (weeks 1-7), at posttest (week 8), and at follow-up (week 12). If this self-control intervention proves effective, this digital approach would represent a low-threshold and cost-effective approach to increasing physical activity. Such an intervention could be delivered to a large number of people to improve their health outcomes in the long run. Trial Registration:ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04522141.