Relationship between subjective well-being and healthy lifestyle behaviours in older adults: a longitudinal study

Abstract

Objectives: People who report better subjective well-being tend to be healthier in their daily behaviours. The objective of this study is to assess whether different components of subjective well-being are prospectively associated with different healthy lifestyle behaviours and to assess whether these associations differ by age.

Method: A total of 1,892 participants aged 50+ living in Spain were interviewed in 2011–12 and 2014–15. Life satisfaction was measured with the Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale. Positive and negative affect were assessed using the Day Reconstruction Method. Physical activity was assessed with the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire version 2. The remaining healthy lifestyle behaviours were self-reported. Generalised Estimating Equations (GEE) models were run.

Results: Not having a heavy episodic alcohol drinking was the healthy lifestyle behaviour most fulfilled (97.97%), whereas the intake of five or more fruits and vegetables was the least followed (33.12%). GEE models conducted over the 50–64 and the 65+ age groups showed that a higher life satisfaction was significantly related to a higher physical activity in both groups. Relationships between a higher negative affect and presenting a lower level of physical activity, and a higher positive affect and following the right consumption of fruits and vegetables and being a non-daily smoker, were only found in the older group.

Conclusion: The relationship between subjective well-being and healthy lifestyle behaviours was found fundamentally in those aged 65+ years. Interventions focused on incrementing subjective well-being would have an impact on keeping a healthy lifestyle and, therefore, on reducing morbidity and mortality.

Keywords:

• Positive affect
• negative affect
• life satisfaction
• healthy lifestyle behaviours

Disclosure statement

No conflicts of interest declared.

Funding

This work was supported by the EU Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation [635316 (ATHLOS Project)], by the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under agreement number 223071 (COURAGE in Europe), by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation ACI-Promociona (ACI2009-1010), and by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III-FIS research grants [PS09/00295, PS09/01845, PI12/01490, PI13/00059, PI16/00218, and PI16/01073]. Projects PI12/01490, PI13/00059, PI16/00218, and PI16/01073 have been co-funded by the European Union European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) “A Way to Build Europe”. The work was also supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM). NMM is supported by the programme “Contratos predoctorales para Formación de Personal Investigador, FPI-UAM”, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain. DMA is supported by the programme “Ayudas para la Formación de Profesorado Universitario” (FPU15/02634), Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports. BO is supported by the “Ajuts per a la Incorporació de Científics i Tecnòlegs” PERIS programme 2016-2020 (ref. SLT006/17/00066), supported by the Health Department of the Generalitat de Catalunya.