Linking Happiness and Health: A Biopsychosocial Life Course Approach

• In Event: 178 - Section on Aging and the Life Course Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 08. Health and Well-being Over the Life Course

Abstract

There is a saying “if you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything,” which ultimately includes happiness. Indeed, happiness has consistently been positively associated with health; however, this relationship is underexplored in terms of temporality and biological underpinnings. A potential biological mechanism is chronic inflammation, commonly measured by the biomarker C-reactive protein (CRP). This protein increases in circulation throughout the body in response to stress system activation, and is involved in the pathogenesis of several diseases. Therefore, we propose a theoretical framework to elucidate possible biopsychosocial pathways by which inflammation may be implicated in the happiness-health link in midlife and older adults, and empirically test this framework using longitudinal panel data (HRS 2006 and 2010, N=2,552). Preliminary results provide evidence that individuals tend to adapt to adverse health conditions over time. Those with clinically relevant increases in CRP are less likely to be happy, while those with consistently high levels of CRP are just as likely to be happy as those with consistently average CRP levels. The association between happiness and CRP is only slightly attenuated by chronic health conditions and physical disability, even when considering various sociodemographic factors. Moreover, the development and ongoing presence of chronic stressors explains the association between happiness and CRP, and largely explains the link between happiness and health measures. Inflammation, particularly as perpetuated by chronically stressful experiences, may capture biopsychosocial processes underlying happiness in midlife and older adults and should be more closely examined in future research.

Authors

• Anthony Richard Bardo, Duke University

• Amy Danielle Thierry, Duke University