University of British Columbia.
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Milbank Q. 2021 Mar;99(1):209-239. doi: 10.1111/1468-0009.12497. Epub 2021 Feb 2.
Policy Points Several intergovernmental organizations (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, World Health Organization, United Nations) are urging countries to use well-being indicators (e.g., life satisfaction) in addition to traditional economic indicators when making important policy decisions. As the number of governments implementing this new approach grows, so does the need to continue evaluating the health and well-being outcomes we might observe from policies aimed at improving life satisfaction. The results of this study suggest that life satisfaction is a valuable target for policies aiming to enhance several indicators of psychosocial well-being, health behaviors, and physical health outcomes.
Several intergovernmental organizations (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, World Health Organization, United Nations) are urging countries to use well-being indicators (e.g., life satisfaction) in addition to traditional economic indicators when making important policy decisions. As the number of governments implementing this new approach grows, so does the need to continue evaluating the health and well-being outcomes we might observe from policies aimed at improving life satisfaction.
We evaluated whether positive change in life satisfaction (between t ;2006/2008 and t ;2010/2012) was associated with better outcomes on 35 indicators of physical, behavioral, and psychosocial health and well-being (in t ;2014/2016). Data were from 12,998 participants in the University of Michigan's Health and Retirement Study-a prospective and nationally representative cohort of US adults over age 50.
Participants with the highest (versus lowest) life satisfaction had better subsequent outcomes on some physical health indicators (lower risk of pain, physical functioning limitations, and mortality; lower number of chronic conditions; and higher self-rated health) and health behaviors (lower risk of sleep problems and more frequent physical activity), and nearly all psychosocial indicators (higher positive affect, optimism, purpose in life, mastery, health mastery, financial mastery, and likelihood of living with spouse/partner; and lower depression, depressive symptoms, hopelessness, negative affect, perceived constraints, and loneliness) over the 4-year follow-up period. However, life satisfaction was not subsequently associated with many specific health conditions (i.e., diabetes, hypertension, stroke, cancer, heart disease, lung disease, arthritis, overweight/obesity, or cognitive impairment), other health behaviors (i.e., binge drinking or smoking), or frequency of contact with children, family, or friends.
These results suggest that life satisfaction is a valuable target for policies aiming to enhance several indicators of psychosocial well-being, health behaviors, and physical health outcomes.
政策要点
一些政府间组织（经济合作与发展组织、世界卫生组织、联合国）正在敦促各国在做出重要政策决策时，除了传统的经济指标外，还使用幸福感指标（如生活满意度）。随着越来越多的政府采用这种新方法，我们需要继续评估旨在提高生活满意度的政策可能观察到的健康和幸福感结果。
本研究结果表明，生活满意度是提高幸福感、健康行为和身体健康结果等多个指标的政策的一个有价值目标。
一些政府间组织（经济合作与发展组织、世界卫生组织、联合国）正在敦促各国在做出重要政策决策时，除了传统的经济指标外，还使用幸福感指标（如生活满意度）。随着越来越多的政府采用这种新方法，我们需要继续评估旨在提高生活满意度的政策可能观察到的健康和幸福感结果。
我们评估了生活满意度的积极变化（t 2006/2008 与 t 2010/2012 之间）是否与 35 项身体、行为和心理社会健康和幸福感指标（t 2014/2016）的更好结果相关。数据来自密歇根大学健康与退休研究的 12998 名参与者——这是一个针对美国 50 岁以上成年人的前瞻性和全国代表性队列。
与生活满意度最低的参与者相比，生活满意度最高的参与者在一些身体健康指标（疼痛风险较低、身体功能受限和死亡率较低、慢性疾病数量较少、自我报告健康状况较好）和健康行为（睡眠问题风险较低、身体活动更频繁）方面以及几乎所有心理社会指标（积极情绪、乐观、生活目标、掌握感、健康掌握感、财务掌握感和与配偶/伴侣生活的可能性较高；抑郁、抑郁症状、绝望感、消极情绪、感知限制和孤独感较低）方面在接下来的 4 年随访中都有更好的结果。然而，生活满意度与许多特定的健康状况（即糖尿病、高血压、中风、癌症、心脏病、肺病、关节炎、超重/肥胖或认知障碍）、其他健康行为（即狂饮或吸烟）或与孩子、家人或朋友的接触频率没有后续关联。
这些结果表明，生活满意度是提高幸福感、健康行为和身体健康结果等多个指标的政策的一个有价值目标。
