Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA.
Department of Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2023 May 26;78(6):1007-1017. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbad015.
Sex hormones are important components of healthy aging, with beneficial effects on physical and mental health. Positive experiences such as elevated mood, lowered stress, and higher well-being also contribute to health outcomes and, in younger adults, may be associated with elevated sex hormone levels. However, little is known about the association between positive experiences and sex hormones in older adults.
In this study, older men and women (N = 224, 70+ years of age) provided blood samples before and after a 2-week period of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) of positive and negative experiences (assessed based on self-reporting items related to affect, stress, and well-being). Concentrations of a panel of steroid sex hormones and glucocorticoids were determined in blood.
Higher levels of positive experiences reported in daily life across 2 weeks were associated with increases in free (biologically active) levels of testosterone (B = 0.353 [0.106, 0.601], t(221.3) = 2.801, p = .006), estradiol (B = 0.373 [0.097, 0.649], t(225.1) = 2.645, p = .009), and estrone (B = 0.468 [0.208, 0.727], t(224.3) = 3.535, p < .001) between the start and the end of the 2-week EMA period.
These findings suggest that sex hormones may be a pathway linking positive experiences to health in older adults.
性激素是健康衰老的重要组成部分，对身心健康有有益影响。积极的体验，如情绪提升、压力降低和幸福感提高，也有助于健康结果，在年轻成年人中，可能与性激素水平升高有关。然而，关于老年人积极体验与性激素之间的关联知之甚少。
在这项研究中，年长的男性和女性（N=224，70 岁以上）在 2 周的生态瞬时评估（EMA）期间，提供了关于积极和消极体验的自我报告项目（基于自我报告的项目评估情绪、压力和幸福感）前后的血液样本。血液中类固醇性激素和糖皮质激素的浓度被确定。
在 2 周内，日常生活中报告的更高水平的积极体验与游离（生物活性）睾酮水平的增加相关（B=0.353[0.106，0.601]，t（221.3）=2.801，p=0.006）、雌二醇（B=0.373[0.097，0.649]，t（225.1）=2.645，p=0.009）和雌酮（B=0.468[0.208，0.727]，t（224.3）=3.535，p<0.001），在 EMA 期间的开始和结束之间。
这些发现表明，性激素可能是将积极体验与老年人健康联系起来的途径。
