TY - JOUR
T1 - Associations of openness and conscientiousness with walking speed decline
T2 - Findings from the health, aging, and body composition study
AU - Tolea, Magdalena I.
AU - Costa, Paul T.
AU - Terracciano, Antonio
AU - Ferrucci, Luigi
AU - Faulkner, Kimberly
AU - Coday, Mathilda C.
AU - Ayonayon, Hilsa N.
AU - Simonsick, Eleanor M.
N1 - Funding Information:
F UNDING This work was supported (in part) by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging (NIA). The Health ABC Study is funded by NIA contracts N01-AG-6-2101, N01-AG-6-2103, and N01-AG-6-2106. H . N . A . was partly supported by one of these contracts. P.T.C. receives royalties from the NEO-PI-R.
PY - 2012/11
Y1 - 2012/11
N2 - Objectives.The objective of this study was to explore the associations between openness to experience and conscientiousness, two dimensions of the five-factor model of personality, and usual gait speed and gait speed decline.Method.Baseline analyses were conducted on 907 men and women aged 71-82 years participating in the Cognitive Vitality substudy of the Health, Aging, and Body Composition study. The longitudinal analytic sample consisted of 740 participants who had walking speed assessed 3 years later.Results.At baseline, gait speed averaged 1.2 m/s, and an average decline of 5% over the 3-year follow-up period was observed. Higher conscientiousness was associated with faster initial walking speed and less decline in walking speed over the study period, independent of sociodemographic characteristics. Lifestyle factors and disease status appear to play a role in the baseline but not the longitudinal association between conscientiousness and gait speed. Openness was not associated with either initial or decline in gait speed.Discussion.These findings extend the body of evidence suggesting a protective association between conscientiousness and physical function to performance-based assessment of gait speed. Future studies are needed to confirm these associations and to explore mechanisms that underlie the conscientiousness mobility connection in aging adults.
AB - Objectives.The objective of this study was to explore the associations between openness to experience and conscientiousness, two dimensions of the five-factor model of personality, and usual gait speed and gait speed decline.Method.Baseline analyses were conducted on 907 men and women aged 71-82 years participating in the Cognitive Vitality substudy of the Health, Aging, and Body Composition study. The longitudinal analytic sample consisted of 740 participants who had walking speed assessed 3 years later.Results.At baseline, gait speed averaged 1.2 m/s, and an average decline of 5% over the 3-year follow-up period was observed. Higher conscientiousness was associated with faster initial walking speed and less decline in walking speed over the study period, independent of sociodemographic characteristics. Lifestyle factors and disease status appear to play a role in the baseline but not the longitudinal association between conscientiousness and gait speed. Openness was not associated with either initial or decline in gait speed.Discussion.These findings extend the body of evidence suggesting a protective association between conscientiousness and physical function to performance-based assessment of gait speed. Future studies are needed to confirm these associations and to explore mechanisms that underlie the conscientiousness mobility connection in aging adults.
KW - Chronic conditions
KW - Conscientiousness
KW - Lifestyle factors
KW - Openness to experience
KW - Walking speed
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84867749866&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84867749866&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/geronb/gbs030
DO - 10.1093/geronb/gbs030
M3 - Article
C2 - 22451484
AN - SCOPUS:84867749866
SN - 1079-5014
VL - 67 B
SP - 705
EP - 711
JO - Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
JF - Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
IS - 6
ER -