Pessimism Hazardous to Womens Health
Reported August 12, 2009
(Ivanhoe Newswire) Dont worry! Be happy! Optimistic women have a lower risk of developing heart disease or dying from any cause compared to pessimistic women, according to new research. Researchers also reported women with a high degree of cynical hostility harboring hostile thoughts toward others or having a general mistrust of people were at higher risk of dying, though their risk of developing heart disease was not altered.
“As a physician, I’d like to see people try to reduce their negativity in general,” Hilary A. Tindle, M.D., M.P.H., lead author of the study and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh was quoted as saying. “The majority of evidence suggests that sustained, high degrees of negativity are hazardous to health.”
In the largest study to date to examine the health effects of optimism and cynical hostility in post-menopausal women, researchers found that white and black American women’s attitudes are closely associated with their health.
Optimistic women had a 9 percent lower risk of developing heart disease and a 14 percent lower risk of dying from any cause after more than eight years of follow-up. Women with a high degree of cynical hostility, on the other hand, were 16 percent more likely to die during eight years of follow-up. “Prior to our work, the strongest evidence linking optimism and all-cause mortality was from a Dutch cohort, showing a more pronounced association in men,” Tindle said.
Tindle’s team studied 97,253 postmenopausal women (89,259 white, 7,994 black) ages 50 to 79 from the Women’s Health Initiative. The women were free of cancer and cardiovascular disease at the start of the study. Using the Life Orientation Test Revised Questionnaire to measure optimism and cynical hostility, researchers categorized scores into quartiles: high scores of 26 or more were considered optimists. Scores of 24-25 were considered mid-high; scores of 22-23 were considered mid-low; and scores below 22 were considered pessimists.
Optimists answered “yes” to questions like, “In unclear times, I usually expect the best.” Pessimists answered “yes” to questions like, “If something can go wrong for me, it will.”
Race also appeared to modify the relationship between optimism and death, with a stronger association seen in African-American women. Among African-American women, optimists had a 33 percent lower risk of death across eight years of follow-up, while among white women, optimists had a 13 percent lower risk of death.
Researchers found that optimists were more likely to be younger (especially among blacks), live in the Western United States, report higher education and income, be employed and have health insurance, and attend religious services at least once a week.
Optimists were less likely to have diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or depressive symptoms, smoke, be sedentary or have a high body mass index. However, the relationship between optimism and heart disease and death persisted even after considering all of these factors.
“This study is a very reasonable stepping stone to future research in this area, said Tindle, both on potential mechanisms of how attitudes may affect health, and for randomized controlled trials to examine if attitudes can be changed to improve health.”
SOURCE: Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, August 10, 2009