Being happy 'won't help you live longer' survey finds

ConclusionThis large prospective study aimed to assess whether happiness or related measures of wellbeing are associated with risk of death, after allowing for the influence of the poor health and lifestyles of people who are unhappy.The study found poor health was linked with unhappiness in middle-aged women. However, after allowing for this association and adjusting for the influence of other factors that may be associated, such as smoking and poor socioeconomic status, happiness and related measures of wellbeing do not appear to have any direct effect on death. This suggests that, as has sometimes previously been speculated, (un)happiness does not have a direct influence on mortality, but is being influenced by other associated factors.  However, this study has both strengths and limitations. The strengths include the fact the study population is very large and the women included have been followed for a long period of time using electronic linkage to their NHS records. The researchers did make an effort to limit the effects of potential confounders and reverse causality in their analyses, which strengthens their results.  However, there are limitations: the study recruited only UK-based middle-aged women, so we do not know if the findings would be applicable to men or other populations. The self-reported nature of the questionnaire may also introduce bias, particularly as happiness and wellbeing are subjective measures, so what could be a "similar" feeling m...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Mental health Source Type: news