Personality traits and quality of life among hypertensive substance addicted adults
Original Article
Personality traits and quality of life among hypertensive substance addicted adults
Nyanbeni Murry,1 Lovika P. Shikhu2
1Research Scholar, Department of Psychology, Nagaland University, Kohima Campus, Meriema
2Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Nagaland University, Kohima Campus, Meriema
Address for Correspondence: Email:lovika@nagalanduniversity.ac.in
ABSTRACT
Objective: The notion of hypertensive personality has been a continuing concept in Health Psychology. The understanding of how personality factors and quality of life can impact the development and sustenance of hypertension can uncover effective treatment module. Hypertensive adults who have co-morbidity with active substance addiction has not been researched extensively. This study conducted among hypertensive adults and hypertensive substance addicted adults aims to explore the association between personality trait and quality of life. Method: A sample of 100 Hypertensive adults (50 males and 50 females), were recruited using purposive sampling. The NEO FFI and WHOQOL questionnaire was used to determine correlation between personality traits of hypertensive adults and quality of life. Results and conclusion: Neuroticism was negatively associated with psychological; social and environment well-being and Extraversion was positively correlated with overall quality of life among hypertensive adults and hypertensive alcohol addicted adults. Openness to experience was also seen to increase psychological and social aspects of well-being among hypertensive adults but not with hypertensive substance addicted adults whereas, Agreeableness was strongly associated with social relationship with positive trend in both hypertensive and alcohol addicted hypertensive adults and seen to positively correlated with physical health among active smoker hypertensive adults. Higher level of conscientiousness increased psychological, social and environmental well-being among hypertensive adults and conscientiousness was seen to be positively correlated with psychological well-being among active smoker hypertensive adults.
Keywords: hypertension, substance addiction, personality, Quality of life.
INTRODUCTION
In today’s modern society, the prevalence of hypertension among adults is a significant public health concern affecting the adult population worldwide (Kretchy et al, 2019) and active sub- stance abuse disturbs broad areas of functioning in relation with social, familial, physical, mental and access to services (APA, 1994). Personality theorists have emphasized the role of certain personality traits such as neuroticism, conscien- tiousness and extraversion having a repercussion on health, indicating the manner and psychological propensity of an individual (Costa & Mc Crae, 2005). When it comes to the clinical group, individuals who exhibit certain personality traits may be more susceptible to certain health conditions such as hypertension and it is presumed that people with psychosomatic disorders (like hypertension) may be distinguishable in their personality from the normal people (Singh & Bhardwaj, 2020). Interrelated to this regard, research studies have shown that personality traits such as neuroticism and extraversion are associated with cardiovascular disease which reflects that people with high blood pressure are mostly neurotic in character and those individuals with traits of conscientiousness become more involved with health behaviors (Otonari, 2021., Lakotas et al, 2022., Lone & Albotuaiba, 2023). The impact of hypertension extends beyond physical health, affecting various aspects of an individual’s QOL. Well-being is a major barometer when assessing hypertensive treatment outcomes and health related quality of life (Kretchy et al, 2019). Snarska and colleagues (2020) have stated that the presence of hypertension significantly impacts a person’s well-being, therefore individuals with hypertension report with low scores in most dimensions of physical capacity, social relationship, psychological functioning and environment (Bhandari et al, 2016).
Studies on QOL pertaining to health and understanding the role of personality traits in the etiology and prognosis of hypertension is limited (Kretchy et al, 2019). It has been noted that QOL has been an important factor for abstinent from substance abuse (Laudet & White, 2008). This research aims to investigate the relationship pertaining to personality traits and QOL among hypertensive adults and hypertensive substance addicted adults. By understanding how specific personality traits can influence the management of hypertension and overall quality of life, suggestions for interventions and support systems might be possible to increase the well-being of individuals living with this condition.
METHODS
Participants
The sample consisted of 100 Hypertensive Naga adults, (50 males and 50 females) in the age group of 20-75 years, diagnosed with hypertension by the physician and taking anti- hypertensive medicine. Exclusion criteria included Hypertensive Naga adults who had dementia and severe functional impairment. The participants were purposively sampled from Kohima and Dimapur districts of Nagaland. Of the 100 sample 43.6% (n=48) was diagnosed with hypertension for 1-5 years, 31.8% (n=35) for 6-10 years and 15.5% (n=17) for more than 10 years.
Tools
NEO FF1-3 (Costa and McCrae, 1992), provides a brief and comprehensive measure of the five domains of personality. It is a 60 Item questionnaire and consist of five 12 item scales. The Cronbach alpha for the present sample indicating internal consistency is alfa= .84.
WHOQOL (WHO, 1998) is a 26-item scale for purpose of assessing QOL. WHOQOL Scores range from 0-100 with 0-25 indicating low, 26- 50 moderate, 51-75 high and 76-100 as very high. The Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient for the current sample indicating internal consistency is alfa= .81.
Procedure
Before administering the questionnaire, the participants were explained about the aim and informed consent was obtained. Blood pressure was also checked and recorded. The participation of the individuals was absolutely voluntary. Time taken to answer the questionnaires was approximately 20 minutes. The procedure was approved by ethics committee, Department of Psychology, Nagaland University.
RESULT
Table 1
Showing characteristics of participants (n=100)
In the NEO-FFI subscale Neuroticism, 14% of participants scored very high, 44% scored high, 36% scored average and 6% of hypertensive adult scored low indicating that most of the Hypertensive adult participants have the bent to experience negative emotions such as stress, anger, worry and depression. In extraversion 14% scored high, 36% scored average, 32% scored low and 18% scored very low representing that hypertensive adults are not very sociable. In Openness to experience 9% of participants scored high, 54% scored average, 34% scored low and 3% scored very low indicating that most hypertensive participants don’t enjoy trying out new things. In Agreeableness, 3% scored very high, 15% scored high, 46% scored average, 28% scored low and 8% scored lower representing that most of the participants tend to be average in pro-social behavior. In conscientiousness, 2% of hypertensive participants score very high, 8% scored high, 41% scored average, 39% scored low, 10% scored lower indicating hypertensive participants may not feel responsible to other than themselves.
In WHOQOL-BREF subscale physical health, 2% of hypertensive participants scored very high, 47% scored high, 44% scored moderate, 7% scored low signifying participants have moderate energy and sleep. In Psychological subscale, 2% of hypertensive participants scored very high, 48% scored high, 49% scored moderate, 1% scored low representing that participant showed adaptive self-esteem and lower negative thoughts. In the social relationship subscale, 21% scored very high, 51% scored high, 27% scored moderate, 1% scored low demonstrating that the participants have adaptive social support arrangement. In the Environment subscale, 5% scored very high, 70% scored high and 25% are moderate indicating that they have good home setting, financial incomes, health and social care.
To analyze the data using Pearson product moment correlation, it was first tested for normality. Upon meeting the assumptions, Pearson product moment correlation was carried out, the result is shown in Table 2, Table 3 and Table 4.
DISCUSSION
Majority of the participants scored high in Neuroticism indicating that they have the bent to experience negative emotions. Neuroticism was also seen to be negatively correlated with
Table 2
Correlation between NEO-FFI subscales and WHOQOL-BREF subscales among hypertensive adults
Neuroticism and its association with social
Table 3
Correlation between NEO-FFI and WHOQOL-BREF subscales among Hypertensive Alcoholics
relationship was also found to be significantly negatively correlated among hypertensive and hypertensive alcoholic adults. Individuals with hypertension displayed increased difficulty in interpersonal relationships (Szczesniak et al. 2019) which was reported in both young and old adults (Jorgensen et al. 1996) and negative social interactions were related with increased hypertension among older adults (Sneed & Cohen, 2014). Neuroticism and environment were also found to be negatively linked signifying that hypertensive individuals with self-doubt and low confidence have decreased participation in the environment. It was noted in previous research that individuals with higher levels of
Table 4
Correlation between NEO-FFI and WHOQOL-BREF subscales among Hypertensive Active Smokers
neuroticism tends to self-select situations that may lead to hardship and distress (Ploubidis & Frangou, 2011). Hypertensive individuals also project higher insecurities and mistrust to others as there is a tendency to perceive themselves as misunderstood by their environment (Szczesniak et al. 2019) which in turn leads to difficulty in compliance to hypertension treatment (Symonides et al. 2014).
The present results also noted a strong posi- tive association between extraversion and physical health, psychological well-being, social relationship and environment indicating that hypertensive and hypertensive alcohol addicted adults who are outgoing are better in maintaining quality of life. The study echoes previous findings that active participation in all aspects of life increases well-being (Lai & Qin, 2018). Higher extraversion trait is also associated with reduced risk of mortality which has been seen to be contributed by personality related role of active social interactions, physical activity and adaptive cognitive schemas (Wilson et al. 2005). It was also noted in the present research that, surge in the level of Openness to experience enhances psychological and social relationship asserting that individual who invite more experience of novelty promotes subjective well-being (Dong, 2020).
Agreeableness and social relationships were seen to be positively correlated in both hypertensive and hypertensive alcohol addicted individuals. This coincides with earlier research signifying that agreeableness is related with improved health behaviors, improved treatment adherence, and enhanced overall well-being among hypertensive individuals (Garcia et al., 2018., Lee & Smith, 2020). The conducted study also found that Conscientiousness as a trait was seen to be significantly positively associated with psychological, social and environmental well- being which is also supported in previous research findings (Chen & Li, 2014., Mayungbo, 2016., Smith et al., 2013). Conscientiousness was also seen to be positively correlated with psychological well-being among hypertensive active smokers. Conscientiousness has contribu- tions in improving life satisfaction. Higher levels of subjective well-being improved the level of conscientiousness and vice versa (Soto, 2015).
CONCLUSION
The study primarily explored personality traits among hypertensive and hypertensive substance addicted adults and its association with quality of life. Neuroticism was negatively linked with psychological, social and environment well- being among both hypertensive and hypertensive alcohol addicted adults. Extraversion was positively corelated with overall quality of life. Openness to experience was also seen to increase psychological and social aspects of well-being among hypertensive adults. Agreeableness was strongly linked with social relationship with positive trend among hypertensive adults. Higher level of conscientiousness increased psycholo- gical, social and environmental well-being among hypertensive adults and increase in psychological well-being among hypertensive active smokers. These findings provide valuable insights into the potential role of personality traits in shaping the quality-of-life outcomes among hypertensive and hypertensive substance addicted adults, despite the limitations such as the relatively small and geographically confined sample size, and the reliance on self-reported measures. Understanding the influence of these traits can inform tailored interventions and support strategies aimed at improving the overall well- being of individuals living with hypertension in this population.
Declaration of conflicting interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and publication of this article.
Part of the present research titled “Personality traits among hypertensive Naga Adults” was presented in 1st Clinical Psychology society of India National Annual Conference in association with Department of Clinical Psychology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience, from 10th to 12th August, 2023, held at Convention Center, NIMHANS, Bengaluru.
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