Daniel K. MroczekIf you are a person who worries constantly then you could be in for some big trouble! According to a new study by experts from Purdue University, personality trait which is related to chronic worrying can supposedly lead to untimely death. Apparently the study claims so because it could lead people to engage in unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking.

Some of the chief characteristics of the personality trait of neuroticism are persistent worrying, anxiety and being susceptible to depression. The analysis looked at how habits like smoking and drinking are connected to the trait. As a coping method, a person who has high neuroticism is expected to go through anxiety or depression and to get away from them may indulge in tobacco, alcohol or drugs.

Daniel K. Mroczek, a professor of child development and family studies comments “Research shows that higher levels of neuroticism can lead to earlier mortality, and we wanted to know why. We found that having worrying tendencies or being the kind of person who stresses easily is likely to lead to bad behaviors like smoking and, therefore, raise the mortality rate. This work is a reminder that high levels of some personality traits can be hazardous to one’s physical health”

Death is apparently literally in the hands of smoking as it accounts of 25 to 40 percent of the connection between neuroticism and mortality. As per Mroczek the other 60% is unexplained but it may possibly be credited to other biological factors or other environmental issues that neurotic individuals face.

The records of 1788 men and their smoking behavior and personality traits from 1975 to 2005 were examined by the experts. The VA Normative Aging analysis comprised of the data and it is a continuing research of aging men based at the Boston VA Outpatient Clinic.

Mroczek comments “For example, programs that target people high in neuroticism may get bigger bang for the buck than more widespread outreach efforts. It also may be possible to use personality traits to identify people who, because of their predispositions, are at risk for engaging in poor health behaviors such as smoking or excessive drinking.”

As per Mroczek an improved perceptive of the association between personality traits and physical help may assist clinicians improve intervention and prevention programs

The findings have been published in this month’s Journal of Research.