Finally, we tested whether personality was associated with a greater risk for elevated levels of IL-6 above a clinically-significant threshold. Previous research has identified IL-6 levels ≥ 3.19 pg/mL as a threshold that confers greater risk of mortality (Harris et al. 1999). We used logistic regression, controlling for sex and age, to test whether personality was associated with a greater relative risk for supra threshold levels of IL-6 (approximately 26% of the current sample). The results from the logistic regressions paralleled the correlational analyses (see Table 1). For every one standard deviation increase in Neuroticism, for example, the risk of exceeding this threshold increased by 12%, whereas for every one standard deviation increase in Conscientiousness, the risk of exceeding this threshold was reduced by 13%. Further, those participants who either scored in the top 10% of the distribution of Neuroticism or in the bottom 10% of Conscientiousness were almost 40% more likely to have levels of IL-6 greater than 3.19 pg/mL (OR = 1.37, CI = 1.09-1.71 and OR = 1.40, CI = 1.12-1.75, for Neuroticism and Conscientiousness, respectively, ps
