Natalia Martín-María1, Marta Miret, Francisco Félix Caballero, Laura Alejandra Rico-Uribe, Andrew Steptoe, Somnath Chatterji, José Luis Ayuso-Mateos. 1. From the Department of Psychiatry (Martín-María, Miret, Caballero, Rico-Uribe, Ayuso-Mateos), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain; Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Martín-María, Miret, Caballero, Rico-Uribe, Ayuso-Mateos), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Spain; Department of Psychiatry (Martín-María, Miret, Caballero, Rico-Uribe, Ayuso-Mateos), Hospital Universitario de La Princesa, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria (IIS-La Princesa), Madrid, Spain; Department of Epidemiology and Public Health (Steptoe), University College London, United Kingdom; and Department of Information (Chatterji), Evidence and Research, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The aims of the study were to assess whether subjective well-being is a protective factor for mortality in the general population and to analyze the differential impact of evaluative, experienced, and eudaimonic well-being. METHODS: Systematic review of articles in the PsycINFO, Web of Science, and PubMed databases. Data on the studies' characteristics, quality, and the effects of variables were extracted. A meta-analysis was conducted on the studies included in the systematic review. RESULTS: A total of 62 articles that investigated mortality in general populations, involving 1,259,949 participants, were found, and added to those considered in a previously published review (n = 14). The meta-analysis showed that subjective well-being was a protective factor for mortality (pooled hazard ratio = 0.920; 95% confidence interval = 0.905-0.934). Although the impact of subjective well-being on survival was significant in both men and women, it was slightly more protective in men. The three aspects of subjective well-being were significant protective factors for mortality. The high level of heterogeneity and the evidences of publication bias may reduce the generalizability of these findings. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that subjective well-being is associated with a decreased risk of mortality. Longitudinal studies examining changing levels of well-being and their relationship to longevity would be required to establish a cause-effect relationship. Establishing such a causal relationship would strengthen the case for policy interventions to improve the population subjective well-being to produce longevity gains combined with optimizing quality of life.
OBJECTIVE: The aims of the study were to assess whether subjective well-being is a protective factor for mortality in the general population and to analyze the differential impact of evaluative, experienced, and eudaimonic well-being. METHODS: Systematic review of articles in the PsycINFO, Web of Science, and PubMed databases. Data on the studies' characteristics, quality, and the effects of variables were extracted. A meta-analysis was conducted on the studies included in the systematic review. RESULTS: A total of 62 articles that investigated mortality in general populations, involving 1,259,949 participants, were found, and added to those considered in a previously published review (n = 14). The meta-analysis showed that subjective well-being was a protective factor for mortality (pooled hazard ratio = 0.920; 95% confidence interval = 0.905-0.934). Although the impact of subjective well-being on survival was significant in both men and women, it was slightly more protective in men. The three aspects of subjective well-being were significant protective factors for mortality. The high level of heterogeneity and the evidences of publication bias may reduce the generalizability of these findings. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that subjective well-being is associated with a decreased risk of mortality. Longitudinal studies examining changing levels of well-being and their relationship to longevity would be required to establish a cause-effect relationship. Establishing such a causal relationship would strengthen the case for policy interventions to improve the population subjective well-being to produce longevity gains combined with optimizing quality of life.
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