This study examined the relationship between psychological well being (using measures of vitality and optimism) and hypertension, finding that high emotional vitality but not optimism significantly predicted a reduced risk of hypertension.
This paper summarizes current evidence of social relations and health, looking specifically at how social integration and support are related to health behaviors and outcomes. The paper reports that social relations benefit health behaviors, including chronic illness self-management, and decrease suicidal tendency.
This study examines the impact optimism has on serum lipids, including total cholesterol, LDL and HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. This research found that optimism was positively correlated with HDL cholesterol and triglycerides, but was not associated with LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol.
Health—whether psychological or physical—is characterized not just by the absence of disease but increasingly by the presence of well-being. These researchers looked at the relationship between psychological well-being (marked by optimism, happiness, and life purpose) and serum antioxidants such as carotenoids and Vitamin E, which are indicators of physical health.
Positive psychological well-being, especially optimism, protects against the incidence, and somewhat against the progression, of cardiovascular disease through a broad array of mechanisms, according to this extensive literature review.
