Anxiety, neuroticism and oxidative stress: cross-sectional study in non-smoking college students

Oxidative stress has gained attention recently in psychiatric medicine and has been reported to be associated with various diseases. However, the psychosocial factors involved in oxidative stress are still not well understood. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine whether anxiety levels and neuroticism were associated with serum oxidative and anti-oxidative status in healthy college students.

Participants in this cross-sectional study were 54 non-smoking college students. Their serum oxidative status was determined by reactive oxygen metabolites (ROM) and the biological anti-oxidant potential. Anxiety levels and neuroticism were assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the NEO Five-Factor Inventory, respectively.

Correlation analysis showed an association of increased ROM concentration with elevated anxiety levels (State, rho = 0.39, P = 0.046; Trait, rho = 0.44, P = 0.024) and the personality trait of neuroticism (rho = 0.47, P = 0.016) in female students. However, the ROM concentration in male students was not associated with the anxiety level or any personality trait.

Although these findings suggest that neurotic and anxious female students tend to be exposed to oxidative stress, these linkages should be confirmed by multivariate analysis in future research.