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ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE: To determine whether purpose in life is associated with reduced stroke incidence among older adults after adjusting for relevant sociodemographic, behavioral, biological, and psychosocial factors. METHODS: We used prospective data from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative panel study of American adults over the age of 50. 6739 adults who were stroke-free at baseline were examined. A multiple imputation technique was used to account for missing data. Purpose in life was measured using a validated adaptation of Ryff and Keyes' Scales of Psychological Well-Being. After controlling for a comprehensive list of covariates, we assessed the odds of stroke incidence over a four-year period. We used psychological and covariate data collected in 2006, along with occurrences of stroke reported in 2008, 2010, and during exit interviews. Covariates included sociodemographic factors (age, gender, race/ethnicity, marital status, education level, total wealth, functional status), health behaviors (smoking, exercise, alcohol use), biological factors (hypertension, diabetes, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, BMI, heart disease), negative psychological factors (depression, anxiety, cynical hostility, negative affect), and positive psychological factors (optimism, positive affect, and social participation). RESULTS: Greater baseline purpose in life was associated with a reduced likelihood of stroke during the four-year follow-up. In a model that adjusted for age, gender, race/ethnicity, marital status, education level, total wealth, and functional status, each standard deviation increase in purpose was associated with a multivariate-adjusted odds ratio of 0.78 for stroke (95% CI, 0.67-0.91, p=.002). Purpose remained significantly associated with a reduced likelihood of stroke after adjusting for several additional covariates including: health behaviors, biological factors, and psychological factors. CONCLUSION: Among older American adults, greater purpose in life is linked with a lower risk of stroke.
Journal of psychosomatic research 05/2013; 74(5):427-432. · 2.91 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: In their book "Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification," Peterson and Seligman present a taxonomy of character strengths and virtues. This chapter specifically examines self-regulation. The chapter provides a consensual definition of self-regulation, and discusses its theoretical traditions; measures; correlates and consequences; development; enabling and inhibiting factors; gender, cross-national, and cross-cultural aspects; and deliberate interventions for cultivating self-regulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
10/2012;
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ABSTRACT: This study examined the contributions of orientations to happiness (pleasure, engagement and meaning) to subjective well-being.
A sample of 12,622 adults from the United States completed on-line surveys measuring orientations to happiness, positive affect,
negative affect, and life satisfaction. A sample of 332 adults from Australia also completed these surveys as well as a measure
of the big five factor personality traits. Hierarchical regressions generally supported the hypothesis that the three orientations
to happiness predict subjective well-being (satisfaction with life, positive affect and negative affect) beyond sociodemographic
variables and personality. Meaning and engagement explained the greatest variance in all three components of subjective well-being.
Overall, these findings support the importance of a eudaimonic approach in addition to the hedonic approach to achieving happiness.
Moreover, findings were relatively consistent in both the Australian and US samples.
Social Indicators Research 04/2012; 90(2):165-179. · 1.13 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: This study examined whether purpose in life was associated with myocardial infarction among a sample of older adults with coronary heart disease after adjusting for relevant sociodemographic, behavioral, biological, and psychological factors. Prospective data from the Health and Retirement Study-a nationally representative panel study of American adults over the age of 50-were used. Analyses were conducted on the subset of 1,546 individuals who had coronary heart disease at baseline. Greater baseline purpose in life was associated with lower odds of having a myocardial infarction during the 2-year follow-up period. On a six-point purpose in life measure, each unit increase was associated with a multivariate-adjusted odds ratio of 0.73 for myocardial infarction (95% CI, 0.57-0.93, P = .01). The association remained significant after controlling for coronary heart disease severity, self-rated health, and a comprehensive set of possible confounds. Higher purpose in life may play an important role in protecting against myocardial infarction among older American adults with coronary heart disease.
Journal of Behavioral Medicine 02/2012; · 3.10 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Although higher optimism has been linked to an array of positive health outcomes, the association between optimism and incidence of stroke remains unclear, especially among older adults. We examined whether higher optimism was associated with a lower incidence of stroke.
Prospective data from the Health and Retirement Study--a nationally representative panel study of American adults aged>50 years--were used. Analyses were conducted for a 2-year follow-up on the subset of 6044 adults (2542 men, 3502 women) who were stroke-free at baseline. Analyses adjusted for chronic illnesses, self-rated health, and relevant sociodemographic, behavioral, biological, and psychological factors.
Higher optimism was associated with a lower risk of stroke. On an optimism measure ranging from 3 to 18, each unit increase in optimism was associated with an age-adjusted OR of 0.90 for stroke (95% CI, 0.84 to 0.97; P<0.01). The effect of optimism remained significant even after fully adjusting for a comprehensive set of sociodemographic, behavioral, biological, and psychological stroke risk factors.
Optimism may play an important role in protecting against stroke among older adults.
Stroke 07/2011; 42(10):2855-9. · 5.73 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Negative psychological states such as stress and depression are associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), but it is unclear whether some positive states are protective. We investigated satisfaction with specific life domains as predictors of incident CHD.
Coronary risk factors and satisfaction within seven life domains (e.g. job and family) were assessed in 7956 initially healthy members of the Whitehall II cohort. Incident CHD (angina, non-fatal myocardial infarction, or death from CHD) was ascertained from medical screening, hospital data, and registry linkage over five person-years of follow-up. Satisfaction averaged across domains was associated with reduced CHD risk (HR: 0.87; 95% CI: 0.78-0.98), controlling for demographic characteristics, health behaviours, blood pressure, and metabolic functioning. Associations with CHD risk were evident for satisfaction in four life domains-one's job, family, sex life, and self, but not one's love relationship, leisure activities, or standard of living. When examining CHD outcomes separately, average domain satisfaction was associated with angina but not myocardial infarction or coronary death.
Satisfaction in most life domains was associated with reduced CHD risk, with definite angina being mostly responsible for this association. These findings suggest that satisfaction with life may promote heart health. Further research should examine whether interventions to enhance life satisfaction in specific domains reduce CHD risk and whether life satisfaction is primarily associated with atherosclerosis rather than thrombotic factors associated with plaque rupture.
European Heart Journal 07/2011; 32(21):2672-7. · 10.48 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Positive psychology is the study of what is "right" about people-their positive attributes, psychological assets, and strengths. Its aim is to understand and foster the factors that allow individuals, communities, and societies to thrive. Cross-sectional, experimental, and longitudinal research demonstrates that positive emotions are associated with numerous benefits related to health, work, family, and economic status. Growing biomedical research supports the view that positive emotions are not merely the opposite of negative emotions but may be independent dimensions of mental affect. The asset-based paradigms of positive psychology offer new approaches for bolstering psychological resilience and promoting mental health. Ultimately, greater synergy between positive psychology and public health might help promote mental health in innovative ways.
American Journal of Public Health 06/2011; 101(8):e1-9. · 3.93 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Research suggests that positive psychological well-being is associated with cardiovascular health. However, much of this research uses elderly samples and has not determined the pathways by which psychological well-being influences cardiovascular disease or whether effects are similar for men and women. This study investigates the association between two aspects of well-being (emotional vitality and optimism) and coronary heart disease (CHD) in a sample of middle-aged men and women, and considers potential mediating factors.
Between 1991 and 1994, well-being and coronary risk factors were assessed among 7,942 individuals without a prior cardiovascular event from the Whitehall II cohort. Incident CHD (fatal CHD, first nonfatal myocardial infarction, or first definite angina) was tracked during 5 person-years of follow-up.
Positive psychological well-being was associated with reduced risk of CHD with an apparent threshold effect. Relative to people with the lowest levels of well-being, those with the highest levels had minimally adjusted hazard ratios of 0.74, 95% confidence interval [0.55, 0.98] for emotional vitality and 0.73, 95% confidence interval [0.54, 0.99] for optimism. Moreover, the association was strong for both genders and was only weakly attenuated when accounting for ill-being. Neither health-related behaviors nor biological factors explained these associations.
Positive psychological well-being was associated with a modest, but consistent reduced risk of incident CHD. The relationship was comparable for men and women, and was maintained after controlling for cardiovascular risk factors and ill-being. Additional research is needed to identify underlying mechanisms and investigate whether interventions to increase well-being may enhance cardiovascular health.
Health Psychology 05/2011; 30(3):259-67. · 3.87 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Studies have documented effects of positive and negative emotion on the risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD), leading investigators to speculate about the importance of effective self-regulation for good health. Little work has directly assessed the role of self-regulation in risk of incident CHD.
To examine whether self-regulation is associated with reduced risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Secondary aims were to consider whether the effects are independent of other measures of psychological functioning and how they may occur.
A prospective population-based cohort study.
The Normative Aging Study, an ongoing cohort study of community-dwelling men in the Boston area.
One thousand one hundred twenty-two men aged 40 to 90 years without CHD or diabetes mellitus at baseline, followed up for an average of 12.7 years.
Measures of incident CHD obtained from hospital records, medical history, physical examination, and death certificates. During follow-up, 168 cases of incident CHD occurred, including 56 cases of incident nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), 44 cases of fatal CHD, and 68 cases of angina pectoris.
In 1986, 1122 men completed the revised Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, from which we derived a measure of self-regulation. Compared with men with lower levels, those reporting higher levels of self-regulation had an age-adjusted hazard ratio of 0.38 (95% confidence interval, 0.22-0.64) for combined nonfatal MI and CHD death. Moreover, a dose-response relation was evident, as each 1-SD increase in self-regulation level was associated with a 20% decreased risk of combined angina, nonfatal MI, and CHD death. Significant associations were also found after adjusting for anxiety, anger, or depression and after controlling for positive affect. The association could not be explained by known demographic factors, health behaviors, or biological factors.
Findings suggest that self-regulation may protect against risk of CHD in older men.
Archives of general psychiatry 04/2011; 68(4):400-8. · 12.26 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Psychology and the U.S. military have a long history of collaboration. The U.S. Army Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) program aims to measure the psychosocial strengths and assets of soldiers as well as their problems, to identify those in need of basic training in a given domain as well as those who would benefit from advanced training, and then to provide that training. The goals of the CSF program include the promotion of well-being as well as the prevention of problems. Assessment is the linchpin of the CSF program, and the Global Assessment Tool (GAT) is a self-report survey that measures psychosocial fitness in emotional, social, family, and spiritual domains. We review the history of psychological assessment in the military and the lessons taught by this history. Then we describe the process by which the GAT was developed and evaluated. We conclude with a discussion of pending next steps in the development and use of the GAT.
American Psychologist 01/2011; 66(1):10-8. · 6.87 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Psychology has neglected the study of variation across cities. An urban psychology is needed that takes seriously such variation and focuses on strengths and assets contributing to the good life as much as on problems of urbanization. To illustrate the value of an urban psychology, we describe studies of character strengths among residents in the 50 largest U.S. cities (N = 47,369). Differences in character strengths were found to exist across cities, were robustly related to important city-level outcomes such as entrepreneurship and 2008 presidential election voting, and were associated in theoretically predicted ways with city-level features. We propose a framework that distinguishes between strengths of the "head," which are intellectual and self-oriented, and strengths of the "heart," which are emotional and interpersonal. Cities whose residents had higher levels of head strengths were those rated as creative and innovative. Head strengths predicted the likelihood of a city voting for Barack Obama, whereas heart strengths predicted voting for John McCain. More than half of the world's population now resides in cities, and urban psychology deserves greater attention.
American Psychologist 09/2010; 65(6):535-47. · 6.87 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Life meaning is important for psychological and physical health and well-being. Researchers have only recently looked at the presence of life meaning and the search for life meaning as separate constructs. In the current study, 731 adult respondents from the United States completed the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, which separately assesses the presence of meaning and the search for meaning, and measures of well-being. Presence and search for life meaning showed different relationships with well-being. Consistent with past research, the presence of meaning was positively associated with life satisfaction, happiness, and positive affect and negatively associated with depression and negative affect, whereas the search for meaning overall had the opposite pattern of correlates. However, the search for meaning was positively associated with well-being—greater life satisfaction, more happiness, and less depression—among those who already had substantial meaning in their life. The search for meaning is not only morally worthy but as it succeeds, eventually satisfying. Implications of these results for interventions to promote mental health and well-being are discussed.
Applied Psychology Health and Well-Being 01/2010; 2(1):1 - 13.
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ABSTRACT: This study examines the role of legal and social context (the level of legal and social support offered by one's country of residence) and sexual orientation in the mental health of lesbian and heterosexual mothers. Participants were sampled from the United States and Canada because the two countries have many similarities (North American location, reliance on English language, and democratic structures) but provide different legal and social rights to their lesbian citizens. The study included 52 lesbian mothers and 153 heterosexual mothers in the United States and 35 lesbian mothers and 42 heterosexual mothers in Canada. Although there were no differences between heterosexual mothers as a function of legal and social context, lesbian mothers from the United States reported more family worries about legal status and discrimination (but not more general family worries) and more depressive symptoms than did lesbian mothers in Canada. Results indicate that legal and social context moderates the role of sexual orientation in maternal mental health.
Journal of Family Psychology 05/2009; 23(2):255-62. · 1.66 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Zest is a positive trait reflecting a person's approach to life with anticipation, energy, and excitement. In the present study, 9803 currently employed adult respondents to an Internet site completed measures of dispositional zest, orientation to work as a calling, and satisfaction with work and life in general. Across all occupations, zest predicted the stance that work was a calling (r = .39), as well as work satisfaction (r = .46) and general life satisfaction (r = .53). Zest deserves further attention from organizational scholars, especially how it can be encouraged in the workplace. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Journal of Organizational Behavior 01/2009; 30(2):161 - 172. · 3.85 Impact Factor
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12/2008: pages 59-77;
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ABSTRACT: What makes life most worth living? The simplest summary of findings from the new field of positive psychology is that other people matter. It is within groups that we live, work, love, and play, and groups should therefore be a primary focus of researchers interested in health and well-being. In the present article, we propose morale as an important indicator of group well-being. We survey what is known about overall morale across a variety of groups: its meaning, measurement, enabling factors, and putative consequences. We sketch a future research agenda that would examine morale in multidimensional terms at both the individual and group levels and would pay particular attention to the positive outcomes associated with morale.Qu’est-ce qui fait que la vie vaut le plus la peine d’être vécue? Réduire à leur plus simple expression les résultats de ce nouveau domaine qu’est la psychologie positive revient à mentionner l’importance d’autrui. C’est dans des groupes que nous vivons, travaillons, aimons et jouons, et les groupes devraient donc être une préoccupation première pour les chercheurs concernés par la santé et le bien-être. Dans cet article, on avance l’idée que le moral est un indicateur majeur du bien-être des groupes. On recense ce qui est connu sur le moral en général dans divers types de groupes: sa signification, sa mesure, ses antécédents et ses conséquences supposées. On esquisse un futur programme de recherche qui appréhenderait le moral de façon multidimensionnelle aux niveaux à la fois individuel et groupal et accorderait une attention particulière aux retombées positives relevant du moral.
Applied Psychology 06/2008; 57(s1):19 - 36. · 1.52 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: How are strengths of character related to growth following trauma? A retrospective Web-based study of 1,739 adults found small, but positive associations among the number of potentially traumatic events experienced and a number of cognitive and interpersonal character strengths. It was concluded that growth following trauma may entail the strengthening of character.
Journal of Traumatic Stress 05/2008; 21(2):214-7. · 2.72 Impact Factor
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Psychological Inquiry 07/2007; 18(3):172-176. · 4.73 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Moral competence among adolescents can be approached in terms of good character. Character is a multidimensional construct comprised of a family of positive traits manifest in an individual's thoughts, emotions and behaviours. The Values in Action Inventory for Youth (VIA-Youth) is a self-report questionnaire suitable for adolescents that measures 24 widely valued strength of character. Data from several samples bearing on the internal consistency, stability, and validity of the VIA-Youth are described, along with what is known about the prevalence and demographic correlates of the character strengths it measures. Exploratory factor analysis revealed an interpretable four-factor structure of the VIA-Youth subscales: temperance strengths (e.g., prudence, self-regulation), intellectual strengths (e.g., love of learning, curiosity), theological strengths (e.g., hope, religiousness, love), and other-directed (interpersonal) strengths (e.g., kindness, modesty). The uses of the VIA-Youth in research and practise are discussed along with directions for future research.
Journal of Adolescence 01/2007; 29(6):891-909. · 2.05 Impact Factor
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Journal of Happiness Studies 02/2006; 7(3):323-341. · 1.88 Impact Factor
