Sense of purpose in life and five health behaviors in older adults

PREVENTIVE MEDICINE

卷:139

Article

Kim, Eric S.^1,2,3,4  Shiba, Koichiro²  Boehm, Julia K.⁵  Kubzansky, Laura D.^2,3 

[1] Univ British Columbia, Dept Psychol, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada

[2] Harvard TH Chan Sch Publ Hlth, Dept Social & Behav Sci, Boston, MA USA

[3] Harvard TH Chan Sch Publ Hlth, Lee Kum Sheung Ctr Hlth & Happiness, Boston, MA USA

[4] Harvard Univ, Inst Quantitat Social Sci, Human Flourishing Program, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA

[5] Chapman Univ, Dept Psychol, Orange, CA USA

关键词: Epidemiology;    Health psychology;    Purpose in life;    Psychological well-being;    Health behaviors;    Physical activity;    Smoking;    Body weight;    Sleep;    Alcohol consumption;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.106172

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Accumulating evidence shows that a higher sense of purpose in life is associated with lower risk of chronic conditions and premature mortality. Health behaviors might partially explain these findings, however, the prospective association between sense of purpose and health behaviors is understudied. We tested whether a higher sense of purpose at baseline was associated with lower likelihood of developing unhealthy behaviors over time. Prospective data were from the Health and Retirement Study, a national sample of U.S. older adults. Our sample included 13,770 adults assessed up to five times across eight years. Among people who met recommended guidelines for a given health behavior outcome at baseline, those in the top versus lowest quartile of purpose in life had 24% lower likelihood of becoming physically inactive (95% CI: 0.68-0.85), 33% lower likelihood of developing sleep problems (95% CI: 0.58-0.79), and 22% lower likelihood of developing unhealthy body mass index (BMI) (95% CI: 0.69-0.87) in sociodemographic-adjusted models. Further there was a marginal reduction in smoking relapse (HR = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.41-1.03) and no association with heavy alcohol use (HR = 1.02, 95% CI: 0.81-1.29). Findings for physical inactivity, sleep problems, and unhealthy BMI remained evident after further adjusting for baseline health status and depression. Our results, suggest that a sense of purpose in life might emerge (with further research) as a valuable target to consider for interventions aimed at helping older adults maintain some health behaviors.

【 授权许可】

Free