Psychiatria Danubina, Vol. 24. No. 1., 2012.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
CAN THE BIG FIVE FACTORS OF PERSONALITY PREDICT LYMPHOCYTE COUNTS?
Ana Ožura
; Division of Neurology, Unit for Neurorehabilitation, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Slovenia
Alojz Ihan
; Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Janek Musek
; Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Sažetak
Background: Psychological stress is known to affect the immune system. The Limbic Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (LHPA)
axis has been identified as the principal path of the bidirectional communication between the immune system and the central nervous
system with significant psychological activators. Personality traits acted as moderators of the relationship between life conflicts and
psychological distress. This study focuses on the relationship between the Big Five factors of personality and immune regulation as
indicated by Lymphocyte counts.
Subjects and methods: Our study included 32 professional soldiers from the Slovenian Army that completed the Big Five
questionnaire (Goldberg IPIP-300). We also assessed their white blood cell counts with a detailed lymphocyte analysis using flow
cytometry. The correlations between personality variables and immune system parameters were calculated. Furthermore, regression
analyses were performed using personality variables as predictors and immune parameters as criteria.
Results: The results demonstrated that the model using the Big Five factors as predictors of Lymphocyte counts is significant in
predicting the variance in NK and B cell counts. Agreeableness showed the strongest predictive function.
Conclusions: The results offer support for the theoretical models that stressed the essential links between personality and
immune regulation. Further studies with larger samples examining the Big five factors and immune system parameters are needed.
Ključne riječi
Big Five factors; Lymphocyte counts; military; psychoneuroimmunology
Hrčak ID:
106205
URI
Datum izdavanja:
25.3.2012.
Posjeta: 1.299 *