Optimism is associated with exceptional longevity in 2 epidemiologic cohorts of men and women.

Lee LO, James P, Zevon ES, Kim ES, Trudel-Fitzgerald C, Spiro A, Grodstein F, Kubzansky LD

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · September 10, 2019

Most research on exceptional longevity has investigated biomedical factors associated with survival, but recent work suggests nonbiological factors are also important. Data are from 2 cohorts, women from the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and men from the Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study (NAS), with follow-up of 10 y and 30 y, respectively. Exceptional longevity was defined as survival to age 85 or older. In both sexes, we found a dose-dependent association of higher optimism levels at baseline with increased longevity (P trend < 0.01). Women in the highest versus lowest optimism quartile had 14.9% (95% CI, 11.9 to 18.0) longer life span. Findings were similar in men. Participants with highest versus lowest optimism levels had 1.5 (women) and 1.7 (men) greater odds of surviving to age 85; these relationships were maintained after adjusting for health behaviors. Given work indicating optimism is modifiable, these findings suggest optimism may provide a valuable target to test for strategies to promote longevity.

PMID: 31451635 · DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1900712116