Do you want to live as long as possible? While it is important to take care of your physical well-being by adopting a healthy lifestyle, you should not neglect your emotional well-being, especially as you get older. And the most useful personality trait for living longer is resilience.
According to a new study published by the journal BMJ Mental Health and conducted by researchers at Sun Yat-sen University in China, there is a link between people with high mental resilience and a lower risk of death from all causes. Resilience is, according to Larousse, the ability of an individual to build themselves up and live satisfactorily despite traumatic circumstances.
Stronger association among women
The researchers looked at data from a long-term, nationally representative study of U.S. adults aged 50 and older, with 10,569 participants followed for 12 years. Mental resilience was measured using a scale that included examining qualities of perseverance, calmness, sense of purpose, self-reliance and recognition that some experiences must be faced alone.
Scientists found a link between participants’ mental resilience and their death, regardless of the cause, and found that Those with a higher mental resilience score had a lower risk of death.
The study also found that women had a stronger association between a high mental resilience score and a lower risk of death than men.
“Doing things you love”
The researchers said, however, that the study was observational and that a causal link between mental resilience and lesser causes of death should not be inferred. They added that variables such as genetic factors and childhood adversity were not included in the study.
“Various factors such as meaning in life, positive emotions, self-rated health, and satisfaction with social support have been identified as potential influences on psychological resilience,” the authors say. “Eliciting these positive emotions may enhance the protective effects of psychological resilience and mitigate the negative impact of adversity.”
Caroline Abrahams, director of the charity Age UK, said: told the Guardian : “Staying connected, having a sense of purpose, and doing things you enjoy all seem to help and certainly make life more fulfilling. Some older people are better off than others in this regard, but even small changes can help. Above all, we have a right to do things that make us happy as we age, knowing that it’s good for us too.”
Liens
The Guardian
Source : Association between psychological resilience and all-cause mortality in the Health and Retirement StudyBMJ mental health, septembre 2024
Source: www.topsante.com
