Psychological Wellbeing and Aortic Stiffness: Longitudinal Study.

Ai Ikeda,Andrew Steptoe,Eric J Brunner,Ian B Wilkinson,Archana Singh-Manoux,Martin Shipley,Carmel M Mceniery,Takeshi Tanigawa,Mika Kivimaki

doi:10.1161/hypertensionaha.119.14284

Abstract

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.

Highlights

This study investigated 2 distinct aspects of positive wellbeing: affective wellbeing and eudaimonia with progression of aortic stiffness, an index of subclinical cardiovascular disease
Emotional wellbeing derived from items on Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was associated with reduced risk of stroke, in a 6-year follow-up.[4]
Previous researches predominantly examined affective wellbeing in the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD),[2,3] and there is some evidence that eudaimonic wellbeing is associated with cardiovascular-related biomarkers.[11,12,13]

Summary

Introduction

This study investigated 2 distinct aspects of positive wellbeing: affective wellbeing and eudaimonia with progression of aortic stiffness, an index of subclinical cardiovascular disease. Two distinct aspects of positive wellbeing have been identified: affective wellbeing, characterized by feelings of happiness and pleasure; and eudaimonia or flourishing, related to functioning in life such as thriving, the realization of human potential, autonomy, control over one’s destiny, and purposeful engagement with life.[7] affective and eudaimonic wellbeing may share underlying psychological mechanisms,[8] the conceptual distinction is important because the 2 constructs may have different biological underpinnings (eg, eudaimonic wellbeing may be more strongly related to diurnal cortisol secretion than affective wellbeing).[9,10] previous researches predominantly examined affective wellbeing in the development of CVD,[2,3] and there is some evidence that eudaimonic wellbeing is associated with cardiovascular-related biomarkers.[11,12,13] There has been only one prospective study based on a small cohort of women that examined eudaimonic wellbeing in relation to markers of atherosclerosis. The inclusion of the CASP-19 in the Whitehall study provided an opportunity to assess both these components

Methods

Results

Conclusion