ArticleJournal of the American Geriatrics Society2022
Optimism, lifestyle, and longevity in a racially diverse cohort of women.
Article in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Emotional Vitality, Flourishing, and Healthy Lifestyles in Young Adults: A Longitudinal Study.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2026Article
- Patterns of spatial inequality in China's longevity population and its socio-economic influences.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Biomarkers of aging: from molecules and surrogates to physiology and function.Physiological reviews · 2025Review
- Superiority illusion in older adults: Volume and functional connectivity of the precuneus.PCN reports : psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2025Article
- Affect regulation and allostatic load over time.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Article
- Accelerated Brain Aging Mediates the Association Between Psychological Profiles and Clinical Pain in Knee Osteoarthritis.The journal of pain · 2024Article
- Associations between Optimism and Attentional Biases as Measured by Threat-Avoidance and Positive-Search Tasks.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Socioeconomic, Behavioural, and Social Health Correlates of Optimism and Pessimism in Older Men and Women: A Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
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11 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundResearch has suggested optimism is associated with healthy aging and exceptional longevity, but most studies were conducted among non-Hispanic White populations. We examined associations of optimism to longevity across racial and ethnic groups and assessed healthy lifestyle as a possible mediating pathway.
methodsParticipants from the Women's Health Initiative (N = 159,255) completed a validated measure of optimism and provided other demographic and health data at baseline. We evaluated associations of optimism with increments in lifespan using accelerated failure time models, and with likelihood of exceptional longevity (survival to age ≥90) using Poisson regression models. Causal mediation analysis explored whether lifestyle-related factors mediated optimism-lifespan associations.
resultsAfter covariate adjustment, the highest versus lowest optimism quartile was associated with 5.4% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.5, 6.4%) longer lifespan. Within racial and ethnic subgroups, these estimates were 5.1% (95%CI = 4.0, 6.1%) in non-Hispanic White, 7.6% (95%CI = 3.6, 11.7%) in Black, 5.4% (95%CI = -0.1, 11.2%) in Hispanic/Latina, and 1.5% (95% CI = -5.0, 8.5) in Asian women. A high proportion (53%) of the women achieved exceptional longevity. Participants in the highest versus lowest optimism quartile had greater likelihood of achieving exceptional longevity (e.g., full sample risk ratio = 1.1, 95%CI = 1.1, 1.1). Lifestyle mediated 24% of the optimism-lifespan association in the full sample, 25% in non-Hispanic White, 10% in Black, 24% in Hispanic/Latina, and 43% in Asian women.
conclusionsHigher optimism was associated with longer lifespan and a greater likelihood of achieving exceptional longevity overall and across racial and ethnic groups. The contribution of lifestyle to these associations was modest. Optimism may promote health and longevity in diverse racial and ethnic groups. Future research should investigate these associations in less long-lived populations.
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