Positive Affect Is Inversely Associated with Mortality in Individuals without Depression

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Public Health
• Gerontology

Background:

• Existing research links well-being to mortality, but rarely distinguishes between affect and evaluative components.
• Previous studies lack longitudinal designs in general populations to accurately measure well-being's impact on mortality.
• The differential influence of positive affect, negative affect, and evaluative well-being on mortality remains underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the association of positive affect, negative affect, and evaluative well-being with mortality.
• To determine if these associations differ in individuals with and without depression.
• To adjust for health status and lifestyle factors in the analysis.

Main Methods:

• A 3-year longitudinal study of a nationally representative sample of 4753 individuals in Spain.
• Cox regression models were used for survival analysis.
• Analyses were conducted on the total sample and stratified by depression status.

Main Results:

• Initially, all three well-being components showed significant associations with mortality after adjusting for basic demographics.
• After controlling for health status and other confounders, only positive affect showed a marginal inverse association with mortality (HR=0.87).
• This inverse association was more pronounced in individuals without depression (HR=0.82).

Conclusions:

• Positive affect is inversely associated with mortality risk, particularly in individuals without depression.
• The findings suggest that promoting positive affect may contribute to longevity.
• Future research should explore interventions to enhance positive affect.