ADIPOSITY CHANGE IN ADULTS: THE IMPACT OF TRAIT NEUROTICISM

Abstract Increased body weight is a risk factor for poor health and shortened life expectancy. Thus, it is imperative to understand how body weight changes across adulthood and to identify factors that predict weight gain so effective prevention strategies can be implemented. It is well-known that eating habits and physical activity are two of the most important factors (along with genetic factors) contributing to weight gain. However, we seek to determine if personality levels predict weight gain because individual differences in personality are thought to be the root-cause of many behaviors related to weight gain. We utilized longitudinal data on over 6,000 adults (aged 20-75 at baseline) from the Midlife Development in the U.S. Study (MIDUS). The Big 5 personality traits, body weight, waist circumference, and body mass index were measured three times from 1995-2015. We estimated a growth curve model to determine whether each adiposity measure changed over 20 years, controlling for age, gender, and education. There was a significant increase in all adiposity measures over time. The rate of adiposity change over time varied among persons (random: weight b = 0.543; waist b = 0.008; BMI b = 0.009; p values < .05). Higher levels of neuroticism predicted this variability (fixed: weight b = 0.211; waist b = 0.027; BMI b = 0.029; p values < .05) such that those scoring higher in trait neuroticism had a steeper increase in all three adiposity measures. These findings suggest that personality traits are important in the progression of weight-gain in adults.

personality dysfunction models also differed somewhat in their relationships to anxiety, suggesting the need for further research especially among older adults.

MEASURING PERSONALITY IN DAILY LIFE: EVIDENCE FROM AN AGE-HETEROGENEOUS ADULT SAMPLE
Giselle Ferguson 1 , Giancarlo Pasquini 2 , Martin Sliwinski 3 , and Stacey Scott 1 , 1. Stony Brook University,Stony Brook,New York,United States,2. Stony Brook University,Port Jefferson Station,New York,United States,3. The Pennsylvania State University,University Park,Pennsylvania,United States Research on personality has theorized that repeated short-term experiences can lead to changes in personality traits across years or decades. Whereas much research on these short-term experiences relevant to personality has been done in samples of college students, this study intended to measure personality-relevant short-term experiences among an age-heterogeneous sample of adults. As part the Effects of Stress on Cognitive Aging, Physiology, and Emotions study, 260 participants (Mage=46.49 years, range=25-65 years) completed a measure of Big Five personality traits before completing a 14-day ecological momentary assessment (EMA) period during which participants reported their momentary negative and positive thoughts, emotions, and social interactions up to six times per day on study-provided smartphones. We hypothesized that these EMA reports could be used as daily markers of trait extraversion and trait neuroticism such that these daily experiences could be interpreted as manifestations of personality traits in daily life. Results of parallel multilevel confirmatory factor analyses showed good model fit (extraversion: CFI=0.96; TLI=0.95; RMSEA=0.03; neuroticism: CFI=0.95; TLI=0.94; RMSEA=0.04). For both extraversion and neuroticism, the latent trait factor and the latent daily-marker factor were positively correlated (extraversion: r=0.36; SE=0.07; p<.001; neuroticism: r=0.45; SE=0.07; p<.001). Results suggest that among an ageheterogeneous adult sample, momentary thoughts, feelings, and behaviors across a two-week period represented expressions of extraversion and neuroticism in daily life. Measuring these short-term experiences is meaningful for understanding how personality changes across adulthood, and future work can use longitudinal data to test if daily markers of personality are sensitive to fluctuations and changes in personality.

ADIPOSITY CHANGE IN ADULTS: THE IMPACT OF TRAIT NEUROTICISM Jacob Alderson, Meredith Willard, and Nicholas Turiano, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, United States
Increased body weight is a risk factor for poor health and shortened life expectancy. Thus, it is imperative to understand how body weight changes across adulthood and to identify factors that predict weight gain so effective prevention strategies can be implemented. It is well-known that eating habits and physical activity are two of the most important factors (along with genetic factors) contributing to weight gain. However, we seek to determine if personality levels predict weight gain because individual differences in personality are thought to be the root-cause of many behaviors related to weight gain. We utilized longitudinal data on over 6,000 adults (aged 20-75 at baseline) from the Midlife Development in the U.S. Study (MIDUS). The Big 5 personality traits, body weight, waist circumference, and body mass index were measured three times from 1995-2015. We estimated a growth curve model to determine whether each adiposity measure changed over 20 years, controlling for age, gender, and education. There was a significant increase in all adiposity measures over time. The rate of adiposity change over time varied among persons (random: weight b = 0.543; waist b = 0.008; BMI b = 0.009; p values < .05). Higher levels of neuroticism predicted this variability (fixed: weight b = 0.211; waist b = 0.027; BMI b = 0.029; p values < .05) such that those scoring higher in trait neuroticism had a steeper increase in all three adiposity measures. These findings suggest that personality traits are important in the progression of weight-gain in adults. Introduction: Personality traits (PTs) -Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to experience, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness -are related to how older adults deal with health-related issues. However, little is known about the relationship between PTs and health literacy (HL). HL measures individuals' ability to find, understand, appraise, and use health information to deal with health-related outcomes. Objectives: This research tries to understand better differences in HL across PTs in a nationally representative sample of adults aged 58 years and older in Switzerland. Method: Multivariable probit regressions to explore how respondents' PTs are independently associated with HL after controlling individuals' social, regional and health characteristics are based on a paper-and-pencil self-completion questionnaire (N= 1'555) administered as part of wave 8 (2019/2020) of SHARE in Switzerland. HL is measured using the short version of the European Health Literacy Survey questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q16), whose scores of dichotomized responses is grouped into two categories: inadequate and adequate HL. PTs are measured with the Big-Five inventory ten (BFI-10).

HEALTH LITERACY ACROSS PERSONALITY TRAITS AMONG OLDER ADULTS: CROSS-SECTIONAL EVIDENCE FROM SHARE
Results: Results show that two out of five PTs are significantly associated with HL among older adults. Individuals who score higher on neuroticism and thus have a persistent tendency to experience negative emotions are more likely to have inadequate HL. More open individuals who are more prone to engage in self-examination are also more likely to have adequate HL.
Conclusion: These findings call for targeted interventions, such as using adjusted health or eHealth information tools that would consider individuals' PTs when designing health policies to improve HL in the population. Conscientiousness is a key aspect of personality, associated with overall better health and wellbeing across the life course, including among older adults. The past ten years have seen a growing interest in how social-environmental factors impact personality traits, but the impact of neighborhood conditions is rarely investigated. Broken windows theory argues that changes to residents' character can be brought about through signals of disinvestment in local norms (i.e. visible disorder), pointing to neighborhood disorder as a possible environmental condition that can shape personality. Drawing upon three rounds of data from the National Social Life Health and Aging Project (2005/2006, 2010/2011, 2015/2016; N=1554), we investigate longitudinal associations between traits and changing neighborhood conditions using a Big Five self-assessment, and interviewer ratings of local disorder. Using a combination of mediation and crosslagged models, we find mixed support for broken windows perspectives -significant mediation processes, but no crosslagged effects.

NEUROPSYCHIATRIC SYMPTOMS IN PRIMARY CARE PATIENTS WITH DEMENTIA
Constanca Paul 1 , Laetitia Teixeira 1 , and Susana Sousa 2 , 1. University of Porto,Porto,Porto,Portugal,2. ICBAS,University of Porto,Porto,Porto,Portugal Neuropsychiatric Symptoms of dementia are mostly valued within care and burden of formal and informal caregivers and less considered as diagnosis predictors. Diagnosis of dementia in Primary Care Service (PCS) is frequently late and based mostly in general clinic assessment, and patient/ family subjective complaints. We study the association of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms (NPI-Q) and existing diagnosis of dementia in PCS. The objectives are to know 1) the prevalence of symptoms identified by familial caregivers in people with a diagnosis of dementia and 2) if there is an association of symptoms with the existence of a diagnosis.Method: we randomly select a community based sample of a pool (N=2734) of primary care users with mental health concerns referred by General Physicians, (N=154), mean age 76 years (sd 7.8), 57% women. Caregivers (N=39) were interviewed and fulfil NPI-Q. Results of descriptive and logistic regression analysis showed that 39% (60) had a formal diagnosis of dementia not differentiating men and women. The neuropsychological symptoms frequency varied between 3.1% (hallucinations) and 16.3% (apathy/indifference), and the symptoms' mean was 4.5(sd 2.1). The amount of symptoms was not associated with the diagnosis. The symptoms that predict the diagnosis were Apathy/ Indifference OR 5.24(1.25-22.0),p.024 and Motor Disturbance OR 5.70(1.17-27.6), p.031. Qualitative data from caregivers interview show that they are not very comfortable with the terminology of NPI-Q, which may limit the accuracy of assessment.
Conclusion: some neuropsychological symptoms identified by caregivers seems to be relevant as predictors of diagnosis of dementia in Primary Care.