Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, United States of America.
Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, United States of America; Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, United States of America.
J Psychosom Res. 2021 Jun;145:110485. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2021.110485. Epub 2021 Apr 3.
Having a sense of purpose in life is fundamental to psychological and physical well-being. Despite the benefits of purpose, it may be difficult to hold onto purpose as people age. The present research addressed four aims: (1) to estimate average change in sense of purpose during midlife; (2) to test associations between purpose levels and later physical health; (3) to test associations between purpose change and later physical health; (4) to examine the cross-cultural generalizability of findings.
We used reliable change indices to estimate change in sense of purpose during midlife in three prospective cohorts: one comprised predominately of White participants in the U.S. (N = 2692), a second predominately of African American participants in the U.S. (N = 248), and a third of Japanese participants in Tokyo (N = 644). Next, we used linear regression to examine associations between purpose levels and purpose change and later self-reported general health and chronic health conditions.
At the group level, purpose declined slightly across time (Cohen's ds = -0.08 to -0.17). At the individual level, 10-14% of participants reliably decreased in purpose, whereas only 6-8% of participants reliably increased in purpose. Consistent with our preregistered hypotheses, higher purpose levels predicted better health in the two larger samples (βs = 0.10-0.18, small effects) and more positive purpose change predicted better health in all three samples (βs = 0.08--0.22., small to medium effects).
Together, these findings suggest that both having a sense of purpose and holding onto it may be important for physical health in middle to older adulthood.
人生目标感是心理和身体健康的基础。尽管目标感有诸多益处，但随着年龄的增长，人们可能难以保持目标感。本研究有四个目的：（1）估计中年人目标感的平均变化；（2）检验目标水平与后来身体健康之间的关联；（3）检验目标变化与后来身体健康之间的关联；（4）检验研究结果的跨文化通用性。
我们使用可靠变化指标来估计三个前瞻性队列在中年期间目标感的变化：一个队列主要由美国的白种参与者组成（N=2692），另一个队列主要由美国的非裔参与者组成（N=248），第三个队列由东京的日本参与者组成（N=644）。接下来，我们使用线性回归检验目标水平和目标变化与后来自我报告的一般健康和慢性健康状况之间的关联。
在群体水平上，目标感随着时间的推移略有下降（Cohen's ds=-0.08 至-0.17）。在个体水平上，10-14%的参与者目标感明显下降，而只有 6-8%的参与者目标感明显增加。与我们预先注册的假设一致，较高的目标水平预示着两个较大样本的健康状况更好（βs=0.10-0.18，小效应），而更积极的目标变化预示着所有三个样本的健康状况更好（βs=0.08-0.22，小到中效应）。
综上所述，这些发现表明，拥有目标感和保持目标感可能对中年及以后的身体健康都很重要。
