Institute on Aging, 2245 Medical Sciences Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1300 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jul 31;20(15):6480. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20156480.
Recent demographic findings show increased rates of death due to suicide, drug addictions, and alcoholism among midlife white adults of lower socioeconomic status (SES). These have been described as "deaths of despair" though little research has directly assessed psychological vulnerabilities. This study used longitudinal data from the Midlife in the U.S. (MIDUS) study to investigate whether low levels of eudaimonic and hedonic well-being predict increased risk of deaths of despair compared to other leading causes of death (cancer, heart disease). The investigation focused on 695 reported deaths with cause of death information obtained from 2004 to 2022 via NDI Plus. Key questions were whether risk for deaths due to despair (suicide, drug addiction, alcoholism) compared to deaths due to cancer or heart disease were differentially predicted by deficiencies in well-being, after adjusting for sociodemographic variables. Low levels of purpose in life, positive relations with others, personal growth and positive affect predicted significantly greater likelihood of deaths of despair compared to deaths due to heart disease, with such patterns prominent among better-educated adults. The findings bring attention to ongoing intervention efforts to improve psychological well-being.
最近的人口统计数据显示，社会经济地位较低的中年白人成年人中，自杀、吸毒和酗酒导致的死亡率有所上升。这些被称为“绝望之死”，尽管很少有研究直接评估心理脆弱性。本研究使用了来自美国中年（MIDUS）研究的纵向数据，调查了与其他主要死因（癌症、心脏病）相比，低水平的幸福论和享乐主义幸福感是否预示着更高的绝望之死风险。该研究集中于 695 例报告的死亡病例，通过 NDI Plus 从 2004 年至 2022 年获得了死亡原因信息。关键问题是，在调整了社会人口统计学变量后，幸福感不足是否会导致与癌症或心脏病导致的死亡相比，与绝望有关的死亡（自杀、吸毒成瘾、酗酒）的风险存在差异。生活目的感、与他人的积极关系、个人成长和积极情绪水平较低，预示着与心脏病导致的死亡相比，绝望之死的可能性更大，这种模式在受教育程度较高的成年人中更为明显。这些发现引起了人们对正在进行的改善心理健康的干预措施的关注。
