Personality and coping: their relationship with lifestyle risk factors forcancer

This study investigates associations between personality, coping and establ ished lifestyle risk factors for cancer (including smoking, alcohol intake, low intake of fruit and vegetables and lack of physical activity). Analyse s were based upon cross-sectional data obtained in the first part of a pros pective cohort study on psychosocial factors and cancer risk. Data were col lected through self-administered questionnaires. The study population (2514 men and women aged 20-65 years) originates from three municipalities (Amst erdam, Doetinchem, Maastricht) in The Netherlands. In univariate analyses, life satisfaction, John Henryism, neuroticism, extraversion, hostility and sense of coherence were found to relate to several lifestyle risk factors f or cancer. However, meaningful associations mainly concern smoking habits, among women. When personality characteristics and coping were considered si multaneously, extraversion, neuroticism, and mastery were found to be posit ively and independently associated with smoking initiation among women, whe reas life satisfaction, submissiveness, John Henryism and neuroticism were found to be related to smoking cessation. In conclusion, a number of person ality characteristics were found to be independently associated with smokin g, the major risk factor for cancer, but only for women. Alcohol intake, co nsumption of fruit and vegetables and lack of physical activity were associ ated less consistently with either personality or coping. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.