National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130;
Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Sep 10;116(37):18357-18362. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1900712116. Epub 2019 Aug 26.
Most research on exceptional longevity has investigated biomedical factors associated with survival, but recent work suggests nonbiological factors are also important. Thus, we tested whether higher optimism was associated with longer life span and greater likelihood of exceptional longevity. Data are from 2 cohorts, women from the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and men from the Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study (NAS), with follow-up of 10 y (2004 to 2014) and 30 y (1986 to 2016), respectively. Optimism was assessed using the Life Orientation Test-Revised in NHS and the Revised Optimism-Pessimism Scale from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 in NAS. Exceptional longevity was defined as survival to age 85 or older. Primary analyses used accelerated failure time models to assess differences in life span associated with optimism; models adjusted for demographic confounders and health conditions, and subsequently considered the role of health behaviors. Further analyses used logistic regression to evaluate the likelihood of exceptional longevity. In both sexes, we found a dose-dependent association of higher optimism levels at baseline with increased longevity ( trend < 0.01). For example, adjusting for demographics and health conditions, women in the highest versus lowest optimism quartile had 14.9% (95% confidence interval, 11.9 to 18.0) longer life span. Findings were similar in men. Participants with highest versus lowest optimism levels had 1.5 (women) and 1.7 (men) greater odds of surviving to age 85; these relationships were maintained after adjusting for health behaviors. Given work indicating optimism is modifiable, these findings suggest optimism may provide a valuable target to test for strategies to promote longevity.
大多数关于异常长寿的研究都调查了与生存相关的生物医学因素，但最近的研究表明，非生物因素也很重要。因此，我们测试了更高的乐观情绪是否与更长的寿命和更高的异常长寿几率相关。数据来自两个队列，女性来自护士健康研究（NHS），男性来自退伍军人事务正常衰老研究（NAS），随访时间分别为 10 年（2004 年至 2014 年）和 30 年（1986 年至 2016 年）。NHS 中使用生活取向测试修订版评估乐观情绪，NAS 中使用明尼苏达多相人格测验-2 中的修订乐观-悲观量表评估乐观情绪。异常长寿定义为存活至 85 岁或以上。主要分析使用加速失效时间模型评估与乐观情绪相关的寿命差异；模型调整了人口统计学混杂因素和健康状况，随后考虑了健康行为的作用。进一步的分析使用逻辑回归评估异常长寿的可能性。在男性和女性中，我们发现基线时更高的乐观水平与寿命延长呈剂量依赖性相关（趋势<0.01）。例如，调整人口统计学和健康状况后，最高乐观四分位数组的女性寿命比最低乐观四分位数组长 14.9%（95%置信区间，11.9 至 18.0）。男性的结果相似。最高乐观水平与最低乐观水平的参与者存活至 85 岁的几率分别高 1.5 倍（女性）和 1.7 倍（男性）；这些关系在调整健康行为后仍然存在。鉴于表明乐观情绪是可改变的研究工作，这些发现表明乐观情绪可能为测试促进长寿的策略提供了一个有价值的目标。
