• Optimism may promote emotional well-bein

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Mon Mar 7 21:30:48 2022
    Optimism may promote emotional well-being by limiting how often one experiences stressful situations
    Identifying psychosocial factors that could serve as treatment targets to promote living longer and in good health

    Date:
    March 7, 2022
    Source:
    Boston University School of Medicine
    Summary:
    'Don't worry, be happy,' is more than just song lyrics. A growing
    body of evidence supports an association between optimism and
    healthy aging, but it is unclear how optimism impacts health. When
    it comes to dealing with day-to-day stressors, such as household
    chores or arguments with others, a new study has found that being
    more or less optimistic did not make a difference in how older men
    emotionally reacted to or recovered from these stressors. However,
    optimism appeared to promote emotional well- being by limiting
    how often older men experience stressful situations or changing
    the way they interpret situations as stressful.



    FULL STORY ========================================================================== "Don't worry, be happy," is more than just song lyrics. A growing body
    of evidence supports an association between optimism and healthy aging,
    but it is unclear how optimism impacts health.


    ==========================================================================
    When it comes to dealing with day-to-day stressors, such as household
    chores or arguments with others, a new study has found that being
    more or less optimistic did not make a difference in how older men
    emotionally reacted to or recovered from these stressors. However,
    optimism appeared to promote emotional well- being by limiting how
    often older men experience stressful situations or changing the way they interpret situations as stressful.

    "This study tests one possible explanation, assessing if more optimistic
    people handle daily stress more constructively and therefore enjoy
    better emotional well-being," said corresponding author Lewina Lee, PhD, clinical psychologist at the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress
    Disorder at the VA Boston Healthcare System and assistant professor of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine.

    The researchers followed 233 older men who first completed an optimism questionnaire; 14 years later, they reported daily stressors along with positive and negative moods on eight consecutive evenings up to three
    times over an eight-year span. The researchers found more optimistic
    men reported not only lower negative mood but also more positive mood
    (beyond simply not feeling negative). They also reported having fewer
    stressors which was unrelated to their higher positive mood but explained
    their lower levels of negative mood.

    While studies have increasingly supported the idea of optimism as a
    resource that may promote good health and longevity, we know very little
    about the underlying mechanisms. "Stress, on the other hand, is known to
    have a negative impact on our health. By looking at whether optimistic
    people handle day-to-day stressors differently, our findings add to
    knowledge about how optimism may promote good health as people age,"
    says Lee.

    These finding appear online in the Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences.

    Funding for this study was provided by the NIH (grant numbers
    R01-AG053273, K08- AG048221, RF1-064006, R00-CA201542, UL1-TR001430, R01-AG018436); and a Senior Research Career Scientist Award from the
    Clinical Science R&D Service, US Department of Veterans Affairs. The
    Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study is a research component of the Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center
    and is supported by the VA Cooperative Studies Program/ Epidemiological Research Centers.


    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
    Boston_University_School_of_Medicine. Note: Content may be edited for
    style and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
    1. Lewina O Lee, Francine Grodstein, Claudia Trudel-Fitzgerald,
    Peter James,
    Sakurako S Okuzono, Hayami K Koga, Joel Schwartz, Avron Spiro,
    Daniel K Mroczek, Laura D Kubzansky. Optimism, Daily Stressors, and
    Emotional Well-Being Over Two Decades in a Cohort of Aging Men. The
    Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 2022; DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbac025 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220307082334.htm

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