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. 2022 Mar;29(1):120-136.
doi: 10.1007/s10880-021-09783-3. Epub 2021 May 25.

Personality and Everyday Functioning in Older Adults With and Without HIV

Rodica Ioana Damian  1 , Surizaday Serrano  2 , Anastasia Matchanova  2 , Erin E Morgan  3 , Steven Paul Woods  2
Affiliations

Personality and Everyday Functioning in Older Adults With and Without HIV

Rodica Ioana Damian et al. J Clin Psychol Med Settings. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

In a cross-sectional multi-method study of older adults living with and without HIV (n = 202; 69.8% HIV seropositive), we tested associations between personality traits and everyday functioning, and whether these associations differed depending on HIV serostatus. We found that higher levels of conscientiousness and lower levels of neuroticism were associated with higher odds of being clinically independent (vs. dependent) in everyday functioning. These findings replicated across self- and clinician-reports and persisted above and beyond relevant covariates. We found no evidence of interactions between personality and HIV serostatus, suggesting that personality was equally important for everyday functioning regardless of HIV serostatus. Given the present findings and the knowledge that personality is dynamic and amenable to intervention, we discuss two different possible pathways for intervention meant to improve everyday functioning and quality of life among older adults with and without HIV: personality change and personalized medicine.

Keywords: Everyday functioning; HIV; Multi-method; Older adults; Personality.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations:

Conflicts of interest/Competing interests: None.

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