Biological, behavioral, and personality variables as predictors of health: a follow-up study

The purpose of this study was to assess the predictive value of behavioral, personality, and physiological variables; particularly, personality types proposed by Grossarth-Maticek and Eysenck, (1990) as risk factors of physical illness, by means of a quasi-experimental follow-up design of cohorts with repeated measures of health status. A total of 209 participants entered the study (104 males and 105 females), divided into two sub-samples randomly recruited from university census of alumni, with a mean age of 29 (SD=7.5), and from current university personnel, with a mean age of 38 (SD= 7.3). Repeated measures were obtained at six and three follow-up years, respectively. Results indicated a limited predictive validity of personality variables, and a stronger role of attitudes towards health in the prediction of healthy behaviors or life style and in the subsequent health status. More specifically, the results of this study indicate that Grossarth-Maticek and Eysenck´s personality types are not good predictors of health-related attitudes and behaviors.