Associations between dietary patterns derived using principal component analysis and personality traits in adults: a cross-sectional study

The present study explored associations between the five personality traits (Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness) and dietary patterns of apparently healthy individuals. Demographic, anthropometric, dietary, and personality data were obtained from 480 adults, up to 45 years of age, through self-completed questionnaires. Dietary habits were assessed via a validated for the population Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), whereas personality was evaluated with the validated Greek version of the 50-item International Personality Item Pool (IPIP). Five dietary patterns were derived from the principal component analysis: the processed foods, the plant-based, the Western-type, the healthy, and the alcohol-coffee pattern. Regression analysis revealed significant findings for various dietary patterns. For the alcohol-coffee pattern, neuroticism showed a positive correlation in the 18-24 age group. In the healthy dietary pattern, BMI and openness were positive predictors, with age predicting healthy eating in participants with under- and normal weight. For the plant-based pattern, male gender was a negative predictor, while openness was positive. For the western-type pattern, male gender was a positive predictor, whereas age and neuroticism negatively predicted adherence in females. Age and conscientiousness negatively predicted the processed foods dietary pattern. More research is needed in this field.