SynthesisHealth psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association2026
Life satisfaction and blood pressure: A coordinated analysis of 16 cohorts.
Synthesis in Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Life satisfaction and blood pressure: A coordinated analysis of 16 cohorts.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2026Pooled it
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveResearch suggests that high life satisfaction is related to better health outcomes, but its relationship with blood pressure, a key indicator of cardiovascular health, remains inconclusive. We conducted a comprehensive cross-sectional investigation of the association between life satisfaction and blood pressure.
methodWe analyzed data from 16 cohorts, each including life satisfaction assessments and blood pressure measurements. We meta-analyzed associations between life satisfaction and (a) continuous levels of systolic and diastolic blood pressure and (b) presence of high blood pressure, inferred based on measured blood pressure of ≥140/90 mmHg and self-reported medication use. We also conducted parallel analyses, predicting hypertension status operationalized based solely on self-reported diagnosis and medication use, as in previous research. Finally, we examined the role of depressive symptoms in these relationships.
resultsMeta-analytic results revealed no consistent association between life satisfaction and either measured blood pressure levels or the presence of high blood pressure. These associations did not differ by the type of life satisfaction measure used or by the economic conditions of the studied countries. However, when considering self-reported hypertension, higher life satisfaction was related to a lower hypertension risk, consistent with previous findings. More depressive symptoms were related to both lower measured blood pressure and a higher risk of self-reported hypertension.
conclusionThese findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between self-reported and objectively measured health outcomes when understanding and investigating the relationship between psychological and physical well-being. We discuss caveats in relying on single-day blood pressure assessments or recalled diagnoses to infer hypertension status. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
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