Abstract
Previous research has shown that both age and neuroticism are correlated with total scores on self-report health inventories; the present study concerns the influence of these two factors on reports of physical complaints in various bodily systems. Six- and twelve-year longitudinal analyses of the physical health sections (A-L) of the Cornell Medical Index were supplemented with cross-and time-sequential analyses. Subjects, aged 17–97, were taken from a group of 1038 male participants in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Results showed that problems in sensory, cardiovascular, and genitourinary systems increased with age, while health habits improved. More neurotic subjects, as measured by the psychiatric sections (M-R) of the CMI and the Emotional Stability Scale of the GZTS showed higher levels of endorsements on all sections. These results suggest that age does not produce a generalized increase in physical complaints; instead, specific age-related symptoms show increases. Implications of these findings for research involving self-assessments of health are discussed.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Abramson, J. H. (1966). The Cornell medical index as an epidemiological tool.Am. J. Public Health: 287–298.
Abramson, J. H., Terespolsky, L., Brook, J. G., and Kark, S. L. (1965). Cornell medical index as a health measure in epidemiological studies: A test of the validity of a health questionnaire.Br. J. Prevent. Med. 19: 103–110.
Adam, J. (1978). Sequential strategies and the separation of age, cohort, and time-measurement contributions to developmental data.Psychol. Bull. 85: 1309–1316.
Baltes, P. B. (1968). Longitudinal and cross-sectional sequences in the study of age and generation effects.Human. Develop. 11: 145–171.
Blazer, D. G., and Houpt, J. L. (1979). Perception of poor health in the healthy older adult.J. Am. Geriatr. Soc. 27: 330–334.
Brodman, K., Erdmann, A. J., Jr., Lorge, I., and Wolff, H. G. (1949). The Cornell medical index: An adjunct to medical interview.J. Am. Med. Assoc. 140: 530–534.
Brodman, K., Erdmann, A. J., and Wolff, H. G. (1960).The Cornell Medical Index — Health Questionnaire Manual, Cornell Univesity Medical College, Ithaca, N.Y.
Butler, R. N. (1978). The doctor and the aged patient. In Reichel, W. (ed.),The Geriatric Patient, HP Publishing, New York.
Costa, P. T., Jr., and McCrae, R. R. (1980a). The influence of extraversion and neuroticism on subjective well-being: Happy and unhappy people.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 38: 668–678.
Costa, P. T., Jr., and McCrae, R. R. (1980b). Still stable after all these years: Personality as a key to some issues in aging. In Baltes, P. B., Brim, O. G. (eds.),Life-Span Development and Behavior, Vol. III, Academic Press, New York, pp. 65–102.
Costa, P. T., Jr., McCrae, R. R., and Arenberg, D. (1980). Enduring dispositions in adult males.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 38: 793–800.
Douglas, K., and Arenberg, D. (1978). Age changes, cohort differences, and cultural change on the Guilford-Zimmerman temperament survey.J. Gerontol. 33: 737–747.
Eckstein, D. (1978). Common complaints of the elderly. In Reichel, W. (ed.),The Geriatric Patient, HP Publishing, New York.
Eysenck, H. J. (1960).The Structure of Human Personality, Methuen, London.
Friedsam, H. J., and Martin, H. W. (1963). A comparison of self and physicians' health ratings in an older population.J. Health Human Behav. 4: 179–183.
Gianturco, D. T., and Busse, E. W. (1978). Psychiatric problems encountered during a long-term study of normal aging volunteers. In Issacs, A. D., and Post, F. (eds.),Studies in Geriatric Psychiatry, Wiley, New York.
Grizzle, J. E., Starmer, C. F., and Koch, G. G. (1969). Analysis of categorical data by linear models.Biometrics. 25: 489–504.
Guilford, J. P., and Zimmerman, W. S. (1949).The Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey: Manual of Instructions and Interpretations, Sheridan Supply Co., Beverly Hills, Calif.
Guilford, J. S., Zimmerman, W. S., and Guilford, J. P. (1976).The Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey Handbook: Twenty-Five Years of Research and Application, Edits, San Diego, Calif.
Hamilton, M., Pond, D. A., and Ryle, A. (1962). Relation of CMI responses to some social and psychological factors.J. Psychosom. Res. 6: 157–165.
Helwig, J. T., and Council, K. A. (1979).SAS Users Guide, 1979 Edition, SAS Institute, Inc., Raleigh, N.C.
Keehn, R. J., Goldberg, I. D., and Beebe, G. W. (1974). Twenty-four year mortality followup of army veterans with disability separations for psychoneurosis in 1944.Psychosom. Med. 36: 27–46.
Kleinbaum, D. G., and Kupper, L. L. (1978).Applied Regression Analysis and Other Multivariate Methods, Doxbury Press, North Scituate, Mass.
Larson, R. (1978). Thirty years of research on the subjective well-being of older Americans.J. Gerontol. 33: 109–125.
LaRue, A., Bank, L., Jarvik, L., and Hetland, M. (1979). Health in old age: How do Physicians' ratings and self-ratings compare?J. Gerontol. 34: 687–691.
Luborsky, L., Docherty, J. P., and Penick, S. (1973). Onset conditions for psychosomatic symptoms: A comparative review of immediate observation with retrospective research.Psychosom. Med. 35: 187–204.
Maddox, G. L., and Douglas, E. B. (1973). Self-assessment of health: A longitudinal study of elderly subjects.J. Health Soc. Behav. 14: 87–93.
Markides, K. S., and Martin, H. W. (1979). Predicting self-rated health among the aged.Res. Aging 1: 97–112.
McCrae, R. R., Bartone, P. T., and Costa, P. T., Jr. (1976). Age, anxiety, and self-reported health.In. J. Aging Human Develop. 7: 49–58.
McNemar, Q. (1962).Psychological Statistics, 3rd ed., Wiley, New York.
Meadow, M. J., Kochevar, J., Tellegen, A., and Roberts, A. H. (1978). Perceived somatic response inventory: Three scales developed by factor analysis.J. Behav. Med. 1: 413–426.
Monroe, R. T., Whiskin, F. E., Bonacich, P., and Sewell, W. O. (1965). The CMI questionnaire as a measure of health in older people.J. Gerontol. 20: 18–22.
Ryle, A., and Hamilton, M. (1962). Neurosis in 50 married couples.J. Ment. Sci. 108: 265.
Schaie, K. W. (1965). A general model for the study of developmental problems.Psychol. Bull. 64: 92–107.
Schaie, K. W. (1977). Quasi-experimental research designs in the psychology of aging. In Birren, J. E., and Schaie, K. W. (eds.),Handbook of the Psychology of Aging, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.
Shanas, E., and Maddox, G. L. (1976). Aging, health, and the organization of health resources. In Binstock, R. H., and Shanas, E. (eds.),Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.
Stenback, A., (1964). Physical health and physical disease as objective fact and subjectiveexperience. Arch Gen. Psychiat. 11: 290–301.
Suchman, E. A., Phillips, B. S., and Streib, G. F. (1958). An analysis of the validity of health questionnaires.Soc. Forces 36: 223–232.
Tessler, R., and Mechanic, D. (1978). Psychological distress and perceived health status.J. Health Soc. Behav. 19: 254–262.
Tissue, T. (1972). Another look at self-rated health among the elderly.J. Gerontol. 27: 91–94.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Costa, P.T., McCrae, R.R. Somatic complaints in males as a function of age and neuroticism: A longitudinal analysis. J Behav Med 3, 245–257 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00845050
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00845050