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Prospective associations between coffee consumption and psychological well-being
Farah Qureshi1,2, Meir Stampfer3,4, Laura D Kubzansky1,2
1Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States of America.
Plos One
|June 9, 2022
Summary
Coffee consumption shows weak links to psychological well-being, with heavy intake potentially lowering happiness. Optimism may slightly increase with moderate coffee intake, but overall, the impact is minimal.
Area of Science:
- Epidemiology
- Nutritional Psychiatry
- Psychology
Background:
- Previous research links coffee consumption to reduced depression risk.
- The relationship between coffee intake and psychological well-being (happiness, optimism) remains under-explored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the prospective association between coffee consumption and psychological well-being over time.
- To examine the reverse association: whether psychological well-being predicts subsequent coffee intake.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study of women from the Nurses' Health Study (N=44,449 for happiness, N=36,729 for optimism).
- Coffee consumption assessed in 1990 and 2002; psychological well-being (happiness, optimism) assessed across multiple time points.
- Generalized estimating equations used to analyze associations, adjusting for covariates.
Main Results:
- Heavy coffee consumption (≥4 cups/day) was associated with a 3% lower likelihood of sustained happiness.
- Moderate coffee consumption (1-3 cups/day) showed a weak association with increased likelihood of sustained optimism.
- Higher optimism, but not happiness, was modestly linked to increased moderate coffee consumption.
Conclusions:
- Long-term associations between coffee consumption and psychological well-being were generally null or weak.
- While coffee may protect against depression, its impact on happiness and optimism appears limited.
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