Is Healthy Neuroticism Associated with Disease Screenings? A Comparison of the Domain, Facet, and Characteristic Adaptation Levels.

Authors

Priscilla H Whang, Clayton Neighbors, Olivia E Atherton

Published in

Personality & social psychology bulletin. Pages 1461672261468870. Jul 30, 2026. Epub Jul 30, 2026.

Abstract

It is unclear whether Healthy Neuroticism is beneficial for health, potentially due to mismatches between how Healthy Neuroticism is often conceptualized and operationalized. The present study uses data from 212 to 672 Dutch adults (54.17% female, mean age = 62.46) to examine how 3 operationalizations of Healthy Neuroticism (at the domain, facet, and characteristic adaptation levels) are associated with preventive disease screenings. Using a series of hurdle models, we found that individuals who were higher on Neuroticism domain, facets (Anxiety, Depression), and characteristic adaptations (Disease Concern) were more likely to engage in preventive disease screenings. However, Healthy Neuroticism (operationalized as interactions between domain, facet, and characteristic adaptations with Conscientiousness) was largely not associated with the likelihood or count of disease screenings, though these results should be interpreted with caution until further replication due to limits on statistical power. We discuss the theoretical implications for the Healthy Neuroticism literature and practical implications for improving health.

PMID:
42529892
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 30 Jul 2026.

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