Unhappiness and mortality: evidence from a middle-income Southeast Asian setting

BioPsychoSocial Medicine

Vasoontara Yiengprugsawan²  Sam-ang Seubsman¹  Adrian C Sleigh² 

[1] School of Human Ecology, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, Nonthaburi, Thailand

[2] National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, Research School of Population Health, The Australian National University, Building 62, Mills Rd, Canberra, Acton 2601, Australia

关键词: Thailand;    Cohort study;    Psychological wellbeing;    Mortality;    Happiness;   

Others  :  1082320
DOI  :  10.1186/1751-0759-8-18

 received in 2014-04-03, accepted in 2014-07-23,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

A relationship between happiness and mortality might seem obvious, but outside of affluent settings in developed countries there is almost no actual evidence that this is so.

Findings

We report our findings on happiness and mortality in Buddhist Southeast Asia. Our data are derived from a prospective nationwide cohort study of 60,569 Thai adults reporting in 2009 and followed up for all-cause mortality over the next four years (296 deaths). We also gathered data on a wide array of covariates and included these in the final model of the unhappiness-mortality effect. All final effect estimates were mutually adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and cohort members who reported being happy ‘little’ or ‘none of the time’ in 2009 were more likely to die (AOR 2.60, 95% Confidence Interval 1.17-5.80). Other significant covariates include being female (<40 years AOR 0.66, ≥40 years AOR 0.57), unmarried (AOR 1.64) and current smokers (AOR 2.45).

Conclusion

Our study provides empirical evidence that the epidemiological effect of happiness is not confined to affluent Western countries, but it also increases the probability of staying alive in a middle-income Asian country.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Yiengprugsawan et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 参考文献 】

• [1]Tobgay T, Dophu U, Torres CE, Na-Bangchang K: Health and Gross National Happiness: review of current status in Bhutan. J Multidiscip Healthc 2011, 4:293-298.
• [2]Bok S: Exploring Happiness: From Aristotle to Brain Science. New Haven: Yale University Press; 2010.
• [3]Michalos AC: Encyclopedia of quality of life and well-being research. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer; 2014.
• [4]Delle Fave A, Brdar I, Freire T, Vella-Brodrick D, Wissing M: The eudaimonic and hedonic components of happiness: qualitative and quantitative findings. Soc Indic Res 2011, 100:185-207.
• [5]Sabatini F: The relationship between happiness and health: Evidence from Italy. Soc Sci Med 2014, 114:178-187.
• [6]Siahpush M, Spittal M, Singh GK: Happiness and life satisfaction prospectively predict self-rated health, physical health, and the presence of limiting, long-term health conditions. Am J Health Promot 2008, 23(1):18-26.
• [7]Chida Y, Steptoe A: Positive psychological well-being and mortality: a quantitative review of prospective observational studies. Psychosom Med 2008, 70(7):741-756.
• [8]Koivumaa-Honkanen H, Honkanen R, Koskenvuo M, Viinamaki H, Kaprio J: Life dissatisfaction as a predictor of fatal injury in a 20-year follow-up. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2002, 105(6):444-450.
• [9]Bray I, Gunnell D: Suicide rates, life satisfaction and happiness as markers for population mental health. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2006, 41(5):333-337.
• [10]Ryan RM, Deci EL: On happiness and human potentials: a review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annu Rev Psychol 2001, 52:141-166.
• [11]Inglehart R, Foa R, Peterson C, Welzel C: Development, freedom, and rising happiness: A global perspective (1981–2007). Perspect Psychol Sci 2008, 3:264-285.
• [12]Koivumaa-Honkanen H, Honkanen R, Koskenvuo M, Kaprio J: Self-reported happiness in life and suicide in ensuing 20 years. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2003, 38(5):244-248.
• [13]Guven C, Saloumidis R: Why is the world getting older? The influence of happiness on mortality. In Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung. Berlin: German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) papers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research; 2009.
• [14]Sleigh AC, Seubsman SA, Bain C: Cohort profile: The Thai Cohort of 87,134 Open University students. Int J Epidemiol 2008, 37(2):266-272.
• [15]Seubsman SA, Yiengprugsawan V, Sleigh AC, Thai Cohort Study T: A large national Thai Cohort Study of the Health-Risk Transition based on Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University students. ASEAN J Open Distance Learn 2012, 4(1):58-69.
• [16]Yiengprugsawan V, Somboonsook B, Seubsman S, Sleigh AC: Happiness, mental health, and socio-demographic associations among a national cohort of Thai adults. J Happiness Stud 2012, 13(6):1019-1029.
• [17]Collins AL, Glei DA, Goldman N: The role of life satisfaction and depressive symptoms in all-cause mortality. Psychol Aging 2009, 24(3):696-702.
• [18]Iwasa H, Kawaai C, Gondo Y, Inagaki H, Suzuki T: [Subjective well-being and all-cause mortality among middle-aged and elderly people living in an urban Japanese community]. Nihon Ronen Igakkai Zasshi 2005, 42(6):677-683.