Researchers examined the role of marital status in the development of type 2 diabetes. Using prospective data from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, researchers found that unmarried men (especially widowers) had an elevated risk of developing type 2 diabetes, when compared to married men (adjusting for other factors). This increased risk may be partially mediated by unfavorable changes in lifestyle, diet, and adiposity.
This article presents the development and validation of two new measures of psychological well-being: the Comprehensive Inventory of Thriving (CIT) and the Brief Inventory of Thriving (BIT). These measures were developed to measure a broad range of psychological well-being constructs and represent a holistic view of positive functioning, as well as to predict important health outcomes.
In this study, researchers review seven types of evidence that shows high subjective well-being (SWB)--including life satisfaction, absence of negative emotions, optimism, and positive emotions--cause better health and longevity. Examples of each type of evidence are described, and issues such as causality, effect size, methodological rigor, whether too much happiness can be detrimental to health, and whether there is a threshold effect for SWB are discussed.
