Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA.
Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Br J Health Psychol. 2018 Feb;23(1):186-207. doi: 10.1111/bjhp.12281. Epub 2017 Oct 15.
Temperament has associations with later physical health outcomes, yet there is a dearth of research exploring the connection between temperament and mechanisms that have known associations with these health outcomes. Recent research has delineated a connection between personality and inflammation during adulthood, but this association has not yet been studied in adolescent samples.
We investigated whether stable adolescent temperament (averaged over two years), specifically effortful control and negative emotionality, provided a more robust prediction of inflammation as measured by salivary C-reactive protein (sCRP), than depressive symptoms.
Temperament and depressive symptoms were measured in a sample of sixty-three adolescents (37 males) when they were approximately 12 years old (mean age = 12.30, SD = 0.69) and again when they were approximately 14 years old (mean age = 14.84, SD = 0.49). Levels of sCRP were determined approximately 7 months later (mean = 6.77, SD = 2.99) when participants were approximately 15 years old (mean age = 15.49, SD = 0.49).
Regression analyses revealed that effortful control (EC) was significantly associated with lower sCRP levels, while higher negative emotionality (NE) was significantly associated with higher sCRP levels. Furthermore, these associations were larger than those for depressive symptoms and were differentially impacted by the addition of covariates. Implications for the role of stable risk and protective factors in inflammatory processes are discussed.
These findings are the first to show associations between adolescent temperament and inflammation. Furthermore, these findings extend previous personality research to temperamental research in a younger sample of adolescents. Statement of contribution What is already known? There is a large extant literature on the association between depressive symptoms and inflammation. There is a smaller extant literature on the association between personality and inflammation. No studies have examined how adolescent temperament traits may relate to inflammation. What does this study add? Longitudinal data collection over the course of 3 years in an adolescent sample. Addresses the question of whether temperament factors relate to inflammation. Temperament provides a more robust predictor of later inflammation than depressive symptoms.
气质与后期身体健康结果有关，但探索气质与已知与这些健康结果相关的机制之间联系的研究很少。最近的研究描绘了成年期人格与炎症之间的联系，但尚未在青少年样本中研究这种关联。
我们调查了稳定的青少年气质（在两年内平均），特别是努力控制和消极情绪，是否比抑郁症状更能预测唾液 C 反应蛋白（sCRP）测量的炎症。
在大约 12 岁（平均年龄 12.30，标准差 0.69）和大约 14 岁（平均年龄 14.84，标准差 0.49）时，对 63 名青少年（37 名男性）进行了气质和抑郁症状的测量。大约 7 个月后（平均 6.77，标准差 2.99），当参与者大约 15 岁（平均年龄 15.49，标准差 0.49）时，确定了 sCRP 的水平。
回归分析显示，努力控制（EC）与 sCRP 水平较低显著相关，而较高的消极情绪（NE）与 sCRP 水平较高显著相关。此外，这些关联大于抑郁症状的关联，并且受到附加协变量的不同影响。讨论了稳定的风险和保护因素在炎症过程中的作用。
这些发现是首次显示青少年气质与炎症之间存在关联。此外，这些发现将以前的人格研究扩展到年轻青少年的气质研究中。
已知的内容是什么？
有大量关于抑郁症状与炎症之间关联的文献。
有较小的关于人格与炎症之间关联的文献。
没有研究探讨青少年气质特征如何与炎症相关。
这项研究增加了什么？
在青少年样本中进行了 3 年的纵向数据收集。
解决了气质因素是否与炎症有关的问题。
气质比抑郁症状更能预测后期炎症。
