Abstract
Background: The link between personality traits and employment status in individuals with chronic health conditions (CHCs) is largely unexplored. In this study, we examined this association among 21,173 individuals with CHCs and whether this association differs between individuals suffering from a heart disease, depression, anxiety, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, musculoskeletal disease (MSD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: This study was conducted using baseline data from the Lifelines Cohort Study. Employment status and the presence of CHCs were determined by questionnaire data. The Revised Neuroticism-Extroversion-Openness Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) was used to measure eight personality facet traits. We conducted disease-generic and disease-specific logistic regression analyses. Results: Workers with higher scores on self-consciousness (OR: 1.02; 95% CI: 1.01–1.02), impulsivity (1.03; 1.02–1.04), excitement seeking (1.02; 1.01–1.02), competence (1.08; 1.07–1.10) and self-discipline (1.04; 1.03–1.05) were more often employed. Adults with higher scores on anger-hostility (0.97; 0.97–0.98), vulnerability (0.98; 0.97–0.99), and deliberation (0.96; 0.95–0.97) were least often employed. Personality facets were associated strongest with employment status among individuals suffering from MSD and weakest in individuals with T2DM. Conclusions: Personality might be a key resource to continue working despite having a CHC. This may be relevant for the development of targeted personality-focused interventions.
Highlights
The growing proportion of older workers in the labor market stresses the need to promote a healthy working life throughout a person’s life cycle [1]
A total of 21,173 participants of working age with a chronic health conditions (CHCs) were included in this study (See flowchart in Figure S1), of which 14,915 (70.4%) were employed (Table 2)
This study showed that all facet traits within the personality domains neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness were associated with the employment status of individuals with CHCs
Summary
The growing proportion of older workers in the labor market stresses the need to promote a healthy working life throughout a person’s life cycle [1]. Up to 30% of the European working population reports a chronic health condition (CHC) [2,3]. Many workers with a CHC leave the labor market prior to retirement age [5,6], but some successfully continue their work roles. The link between personality traits and employment status in individuals with chronic health conditions (CHCs) is largely unexplored. Personality facets were associated strongest with employment status among individuals suffering from MSD and weakest in individuals with T2DM. Conclusions: Personality might be a key resource to continue working despite having a CHC. This may be relevant for the development of targeted personality-focused interventions
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
