Who will be healthy, rich and wise?
Conscientiousness and optimism were called the key to a healthy old age
Anna Zinina, N+1
British epidemiologists have proved that life skills important for young people retain their importance for older people: there is a relationship between the number of important life skills possessed by a person and indicators characterizing the quality of life of older people. These include a number of economic and psychosocial indicators, as well as indicators of health and physical well-being. The article by Andrew Steptoe and Jane Wardle Life skills, wealth, health, and wellbeing in later life is published in the journal PNAS.
The significance of personality traits and their influence on a variety of life outcomes has long been of interest to scientists. It has long been established that qualities such as conscientiousness, responsibility and optimism, manifested in childhood and adolescence, can positively affect his studies, career, prosocial behavior and health. Scientists call these "non-cognitive skills" and emphasize that they can not only be inherited, but also developed, and age is not a hindrance. Much less research is focused on the impact of these skills on the quality of life of middle-aged and older people.
Scientists from University College London conducted an extensive study based on data from a large-scale longitudinal study of ELSA, conducted among eight thousand elderly people from 52 to 90 years or more. With the help of questionnaires, such skills as conscientiousness, emotional stability, determination, a sense of control, and optimism were evaluated, and a verdict was made on each of them, whether the subject had it. One point was awarded for each quality, then they were summed up, and each participant fell into one of five groups. Since less than two percent of the participants managed to score five points, the researchers combined groups "4" and "5", dividing the participants into five groups. At the same time, the influence of each of the five studied character traits was not evaluated, only the overall indicator was taken into account. In addition, the analysis excluded the influence of factors such as age, gender, socio—economic status of parents, education of the participant and the level of his cognitive functions - all of them were controlled and did not affect the relationship between life skills and the observed indicators of well-being.
The skills turned out to be relevant for all indicators of quality of life. The analysis revealed, for example, that among very lonely people, half do not fully possess any of the five life skills, and only ten percent have four or more, and that the higher the number of skills, the more often people engage in volunteer activities, thereby demonstrating prosocial behavior. Health indicators also reacted to the number of skills: among people dissatisfied with their health, only six percent had four or more skills. Perhaps optimistic people are less likely to complain, but more objective indicators, such as the presence of chronic diseases and the assessment of biomarkers, showed a clear correlation. Vitamin D indicators increased with the number of skills, and cases of obesity decreased. Health indicators obtained four years after the first assessment also speak in favor of having a connection.
Cross-associations between life skills and economic, psychological and social outcomes. The horizontal axis on each graph represents the number of life skills ranging from low to 4 or 5 (4,5). Here and below are the drawings from the PNAS article.
Cross-associations between life skills and medical and biological health indicators.
According to the results, it is unlikely that one of the five skills is significantly more important than the others. The authors acknowledge that well-being indicators may be influenced by other important traits not included in the study, such as empathy and social skills, and that a combination of cognitive and non-cognitive skills may be important, for example. In addition, despite the massive data, the study does not allow us to assert cause-and-effect relationships, however, it remains possible that the practice of maintaining and developing non-cognitive skills in older people can indeed lead to positive consequences for their health and well-being.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru 13.04.2017