Neuroticism and adverse life events are important determinants in functional somatic disorders: the DanFunD study 2022 Petersen, Fink et al

Abstract

Several psychological factors have been proposed to be associated with functional somatic disorders (FSD). However, large population-based studies investigating the importance of both personality and adverse life events (ALE) are sparse. This study aimed to investigate the association between FSD and neuroticism and the accumulated number of ALE, respectively.

This cross-sectional study included a random sample of the adult Danish population (N = 7493). FSD were established by means of self-reported questionnaires and diagnostic interviews. Neuroticism was measured with the Danish version of the short-form NEO Personality Inventory. ALE were measured with the Danish version of the Cumulative Lifetime Adversity Measure.

Strong positive associations were found between neuroticism and FSD, and ALE and questionnaire-based FSD. For interview-based FSD, strong positive associations were found for FSD, multi-organ type, and for the subtype of the general symptoms. The level of self-efficacy did not modify these associations, and no moderating effect of neuroticism and ALE in combination on the probability of having FSD was found. FSD were strongly associated with both neuroticism and the accumulated number of ALE, and these associations were not modified by self-efficacy. In combination, neuroticism and ALE did not have a moderating effect on the probability of having FSD.

Open access, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-24213-6

 

If one of those adverse life events is getting seriously and chronically sick I'm inclined to agree, just from reading the headline.

 

I wondered how neuroticism was defined so looked up the word on wikipedia.

This statement was hilarious :

 

So this is basically the same stuff as eugenicists and supremacists who defined intelligence using European morphological features and "finding" that other races just aren't as intelligent because their morphological features don't match the definition of intelligence. It's also the stuff of "Nicolas Cage movies correlate with pool drownings" jokes, except the drownings mostly occur during the filming of Nicolas Cage movies.

Also how much of a joke this entire thing is:

A determinant is causative, not associative. All they have is arbitrary associations that exist because of the deliberate overlap with whatever they mean by neuroticism and illness. And they claim determinative causes and it passes peer review. And not just determinant but important determinant, that kind of language is rarely used in physics where proofs have a billion times more precision.

A system based on peer review is completely broken if 1) peers are also wrong, 2) peers don't want to find fault in other people's work as their own work has the same fault but also 3) nothing happens to flaws and mistakes after publication since "it passed peer review", even though review isn't even meant to find flaws in the substance, only the papers. At least not in evidence-based medicine.

Also decided to check for funsies and the NEO personality inventory seems to be especially potent pseudoscience. The stuff about personality traits is as much nonsense as the cryptobros talking about "alpha males", defined by themselves as behaving like they do. LMAO it's even "validated" with Meyers-Briggs. And it's a paywalled test so I can't find the questions but the "facets" include anxiety and depression and we know they are always defined based on symptoms so it's circular evidence.

Even more alarmingly... this is published in Nature? WTAF?

 

What's a sufficient amount of anxiety buffers and with black friday around the corner where do I get the best deal for them? My dad had spares, but he's gone through them since old age.

 

Hornby do them in 00-gauge if you don’t mimd painting them yourself.

 

The term "anxiety buffers" brought to mind tires cut in half, nailed to a dock, so that when boats come in they hit the buffers, not the dock.

That would be rather large to wear: a coat made of half tires, in order that I could rebuff anxiety.