Fortunately, there also is growing direct evidence that neuroticism is associated with physical health problems. A number of studies suggest that neuroticism itself is associated with a wide range of physical health problems (T. W. Smith & MacKenzie, 2006), such as cardiovascular disease (Suls & Bunde, 2005), atopic eczema (Buske-Kirschbaum, Geiben, & Hellhammer, 2001), asthma (Huovinen, Kaprio, & Koskenvuo, 2001), and irritable bowel syndrome (Spiller, 2007), even when depression and other risk factors such as social support are controlled (Bouhuys et al., 2004; Russo et al., 1997). Indeed, one study found that depression did not predict poor physical health when neuroticism was controlled (Russo et al., 1997). Thus, the association between neuroticism and physical health problems may not solely reflect the result of the correlation of neuroticism with depression.
