Date of Graduation
2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MS
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Psychology
Committee Chair
Nicholas A Turiano
Committee Co-Chair
Hawley Montgomery-Downs
Committee Member
Shari Steinman
Abstract
Personality traits and sleep are associated with health and longevity; however, no investigation has examined whether sleep is a pathway linking personality to mortality risk. Thus, we tested this effect across a 20-year mortality follow-up period in the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) cohort (N = 3,253; M age = 47.03 years, SD = 12.39, range = 20-75), using proportional hazards in a structural equation modeling (SEM) framework. Openness was the only trait predictor of death risk. Daytime sleepiness and short and long sleep duration also emerged as predictors of mortality risk. We found indirect effects for neuroticism, agreeableness, and extraversion on mortality risk through these sleep components. Our findings suggest sleep is a mechanism underlying the personality-mortality effect and has applications for personality-based health interventions.
Recommended Citation
Spears, Shantel, "Personality, Sleep, and Mortality" (2018). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 6698.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/6698