1. Psychological Wellbeing and Aortic Stiffness
- Author
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Ikeda, Ai, Steptoe, Andrew, Shipley, Martin, Wilkinson, Ian B., McEniery, Carmel M., Tanigawa, Takeshi, Singh-Manoux, Archana, Kivimaki, Mika, and Brunner, Eric J.
- Subjects
Male ,Value of Life ,Happiness ,Pulse Wave Analysis ,Vascular Stiffness ,cardiovascular disease ,Surveys and Questionnaires ,longitudinal studies ,Humans ,Aorta ,Aged ,Optimism ,Epidemiology/Population Science ,association ,Original Articles ,Protective Factors ,biological factors ,United Kingdom ,Mental Health ,Cardiovascular Diseases ,Heart Disease Risk Factors ,Asymptomatic Diseases ,ComputingMethodologies_DOCUMENTANDTEXTPROCESSING ,Disease Progression ,Female - Abstract
Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text., This study investigated 2 distinct aspects of positive wellbeing: affective wellbeing and eudaimonia with progression of aortic stiffness, an index of subclinical cardiovascular disease. A total of 4754 participants (mean age 65.3 years, 3466 men, and 1288 women) from the Whitehall II cohort study provided data on affective and eudaimonic wellbeing using subscales from the control, autonomy, self-realization and pleasure-19 questionnaire. Aortic stiffness was measured by aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) at baseline (2008–2009) and 5 years later (2012–2013). Linear mixed models were used to measure the effect of affective and eudaimonic wellbeing on baseline PWV and 5-year PWV longitudinal change. A 1-SD higher eudaimonic wellbeing was associated with lower baseline PWV in men (β=−0.100 m/s [95% CI=−0.169 to −0.032]), independent of social, behavioral, and biological factors. This association persisted over 5 years. No such association was found in women (β=−0.029 m/s [95% CI=−0.126 to 0.069]). We did not find any association of positive wellbeing with change in PWV over time in either men or women. In older men, higher levels of eudaimonic wellbeing were associated with lower long-term levels of arterial stiffness. These findings support the notion that the pattern of association between positive wellbeing and cardiovascular health outcomes involves eudaimonic rather than affective wellbeing and is sex-specific.
- Published
- 2020