Health and happiness depend on each other

Date:
July 22, 2020
Source:
Association for Psychological Science
Summary:
New research adds to the growing body of evidence that happiness
not only feels good, it is good for your physical health, too.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
Good health and a happy outlook on life may seem like equally worthy
yet independent goals. A growing body of research, however, bolsters the
case that a happy outlook can have a very real impact on your physical well-being.


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New research published in the journal Psychological Science shows
that both online and in-person psychological interventions -- tactics specifically designed to boost subjective well-being -- have positive
effects on self- reported physical health. The online and in-person interventions were equally effective.

"Though prior studies have shown that happier people tend to have
better cardiovascular health and immune-system responses than their less
happy counterparts," said Kostadin Kushlev, a professor in Georgetown University's Department of Psychology and one of the authors of the paper,
"our research is one of the first randomized controlled trials to suggest
that increasing the psychological well-being even of generally healthy
adults can have benefits to their physical health." Intervention for
Healthy Outcomes Over the course of six months, Kushlev and his colleagues
at the University of Virginia and the University of British Columbia
examined how improving the subjective well-being of people who were not hospitalized or otherwise undergoing medical treatment affected their
physical health.

A group of 155 adults between the ages of 25 and 75 were randomly
assigned either to a wait-list control condition or a 12-week positive psychological intervention that addressed three different sources of
happiness: the "Core Self," the "Experiential Self," and the "Social
Self." The first 3 weeks of the program focused on the Core Self, helping individuals identify their personal values, strengths, and goals. The next
5 weeks focused on the Experiential Self, covering emotion regulation
and mindfulness. This phase also gave participants tools to identify maladaptive patterns of thinking. The final 4 weeks of the program
addressed the Social Self, teaching techniques to cultivate gratitude,
foster positive social interactions, and engage more with their community.



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The program, called Enduring Happiness and Continued Self-Enhancement (ENHANCE), consisted of weekly modules either led by a trained clinician
or completed individually using a customized online platform. None of
the modules focused on promoting physical health or health behaviors,
such as sleep, exercise, or diet.

Each module featured an hour-long lesson with information and exercises;
a weekly writing assignment, such as journaling; and an active behavioral component, such as guided meditation.

"All of the activities were evidence-based tools to increase subjective
well- being," Kushlev noted.

When the program concluded, the participants were given individual
evaluations and recommendations of which modules would be most effective
at improving their happiness in the long term. Three months after the conclusion of the trial, researchers followed up with the participants
to evaluate their well-being and health.

A Happy Future Participants who received the intervention reported
increasing levels of subjective well-being over the course of the 12-week program. They also reported fewer sick days than control participants throughout the program and 3 months after it ended.

The online mode of administering the program was shown to be as effective
as the in-person mode led by trained facilitators.

"These results speak to the potential of such interventions to be scaled
in ways that reach more people in environments such as college campuses to
help increase happiness and promote better mental health among students," Kushlev said.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
Association_for_Psychological_Science. Note: Content may be edited for
style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Kostadin Kushlev, Samantha J. Heintzelman, Lesley D. Lutes, Derrick
Wirtz, Jacqueline M. Kanippayoor, Damian Leitner, Ed Diener. Does
Happiness Improve Health? Evidence From a Randomized Controlled
Trial.

Psychological Science, 2020; 31 (7): 807 DOI:
10.1177/0956797620919673 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200722170142.htm

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