Satisfied with your life so far? If so, you may be protected against a host of ills, according to a recent study.
By Wendy Haaf
Using data from a sample of 12,998 US adults over the age of 50, researchers at the University of British Columbia probed whether scores on a life-satisfaction survey were related to how participants had been faring four years after taking the survey. (The survey consisted of five statements such as “If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing”; respondents were asked to rate each on a seven-point scale, from “Strongly disagree” to “Strongly agree.”) Researchers found that high life satisfaction was linked with specific positive indicators of health and well-being. For example, compared with the one-third of respondents who had the lowest levels of life satisfaction, among the top third, rates of depression, death, and reduced physical functioning at the four-year mark were significantly lower—by 46 per cent, 26 per cent, and 25 per cent, respectively.
Source: The Milbank Quarterly
Photo by Katarzyna Grabowska on Unsplash
