Association Between Optimism and Incident Stroke Among Stroke Survivors: Findings From the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Personality can influence health. Research has linked traits such as optimism with reduced risk of heart attack. This study set out to investigate whether optimism and other personality traits could also influence the risk of stroke. A total of 3,703 people aged 50 and over living in England filled in questionnaires on personality. They were then followed for 6 years to see who developed stroke. The study found that more optimistic people had a reduced risk of stroke. People who had more conscientious and more open personality types also had a lower risk of stroke. However, the strongest effects were found for optimism, where optimistic people had a lower stroke risk regardless of their clinical risk or health behaviors. It is unknown why optimism may help reduce stroke risk. One possibility coming from the study data suggests that optimistic people are more likely to be physically active which then helps reduce stroke risk. More research is needed to understand how personality might influence health behaviors to reduce the risk of people having a stroke.