Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T10:41:52.210Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Life satisfaction and mental health problems (18 to 35 years)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2015

D. M. Fergusson ,
G. F. H. McLeod ,
L. J. Horwood ,
N. R. Swain ,
S. Chapple  and
R. Poulton
D. M. Fergusson*
Affiliation:
Christchurch Health and Development Study, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand
G. F. H. McLeod
Affiliation:
Christchurch Health and Development Study, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand
L. J. Horwood
Affiliation:
Christchurch Health and Development Study, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand
N. R. Swain
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
S. Chapple
Affiliation:
Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
R. Poulton
Affiliation:
Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
*
*Address for correspondence: D. M. Fergusson, Ph.D., Christchurch Health and Development Study, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, PO Box 4345, Christchurch, New Zealand. (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Previous research has found that mental health is strongly associated with life satisfaction. In this study we examine associations between mental health problems and life satisfaction in a birth cohort studied from 18 to 35 years.

Method

Data were gathered during the Christchurch Health and Development Study, which is a longitudinal study of a birth cohort of 1265 children, born in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1977. Assessments of psychiatric disorder (major depression, anxiety disorder, suicidality, alcohol dependence and illicit substance dependence) using DSM diagnostic criteria and life satisfaction were obtained at 18, 21, 25, 30 and 35 years.

Results

Significant associations (p < 0.01) were found between repeated measures of life satisfaction and the psychiatric disorders major depression, anxiety disorder, suicidality, alcohol dependence and substance dependence. After adjustment for non-observed sources of confounding by fixed effects, statistically significant associations (p < 0.05) remained between life satisfaction and major depression, anxiety disorder, suicidality and substance dependence. Overall, those reporting three or more mental health disorders had mean life satisfaction scores that were nearly 0.60 standard deviations below those without mental health problems. A structural equation model examined the direction of causation between life satisfaction and mental health problems. Statistically significant (p < 0.05) reciprocal associations were found between life satisfaction and mental health problems.

Conclusions

After adjustment for confounding, robust and reciprocal associations were found between mental health problems and life satisfaction. Overall, this study showed evidence that life satisfaction influences mental disorder, and that mental disorder influences life satisfaction.

Keywords

Fixed-effects regressionlife satisfactionlongitudinal studiesmental healthstructural equation modelling
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 45 , Issue 11 , August 2015 , pp. 2427 - 2436
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allison, PD (2009). Fixed Effects Regression Models. Sage: Newbury Park, CA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edn. American Psychiatric Association: Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Bartels, M, Boomsma, DI (2009). Born to be happy? The etiology of subjective well-being. Behavior Genetics 39, 605–615.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bartels, M, Cacioppo, JT, van Beijsterveldt, TCM, Boomsma, DI (2013). Exploring the association between well-being and psychopathology in adolescents. Behavior Genetics 43, 177–190.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bellis, MA, Lowey, H, Hughes, K, Deacon, L, Stansfield, J, Perkins, C (2012). Variations in risk and protective factors for life satisfaction and mental wellbeing with deprivation: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health 12, 492.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beutel, ME, Glaesmer, H, Wiltink, J, Marian, H, Brahler, E (2010). Life satisfaction, anxiety, depression and resilience across the life span of men. The Aging Male 13, 32–39.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boden, JM, Fergusson, DM, Horwood, LJ (2008). Does adolescent self-esteem predict later life outcomes? A test of the causal role of self-esteem. Development and Psychopathology 20, 319–339.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boden, JM, Fergusson, DM, Horwood, LJ (2010). Cigarette smoking and depression: tests of causal linkages using a longitudinal birth cohort. British Journal of Psychiatry 196, 440–446.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bray, I, Gunnell, D (2006). Suicide rates, life satisfaction and happiness as markers for population mental health. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 41, 333–337.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carlin, JB, Wolfe, R, Coffey, C, Patton, GC (1999). Tutorial in biostatistics. Analysis of binary outcomes in longitudinal studies using weighted estimating equations and discrete-time survival methods: prevalence and incidence of smoking in an adolescent cohort. Statistics in Medicine 18, 2655–2679.3.0.CO;2-#>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeNeve, KM, Cooper, H (1998). The happy personality: a meta-analysis of 137 personality traits and subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin 124, 197–229.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Desousa, C, Murphy, S, Roberts, C, Anderson, L (2008). School policies and binge drinking behaviours of school-aged children in Wales: a multilevel analysis. Health Education Research 23, 259–271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diener, E (2000). Subjective well-being: the science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. American Psychologist 55, 34–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diener, E, Suh, EM, Lucas, RE, Smith, HL (1999). Subjective well-being: three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin 125, 276–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dolan, P, Peasgood, T, White, M (2008). Do we really know what makes us happy? A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being. Journal of Economic Psychology 29, 94–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faragher, EB, Cass, M, Cooper, CL (2005). The relationship between job satisfaction and health: a meta-analysis. Occupational and Environmental Medicine 62, 105–112.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fergusson, DM, Boden, JM, Horwood, LJ (2008). Exposure to childhood sexual and physical abuse and adjustment in early adulthood. Child Abuse and Neglect 32, 607–619.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fergusson, DM, Boden, JM, Horwood, LJ (2009). Tests of causal links between alcohol abuse or dependence and major depression. Archives of General Psychiatry 66, 260–266.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fergusson, DM, Horwood, LJ (2001). The Christchurch Health and Development Study: review of findings on child and adolescent mental health. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 35, 287–296.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fergusson, DM, Horwood, LJ (2013). The Christchurch Health and Development Study. In The Christchurch Experience: 40 Years of Research and Teaching (ed. Joyce, P., Nicholls, G., Thomas, K. and Wilkinson, T.), pp. 79–87. University of Otago: Christchurch.Google Scholar
Fergusson, DM, McLeod, GFH, Horwood, LJ (2013). Childhood sexual abuse and adult developmental outcomes: findings from a 30-year longitudinal study in New Zealand. Child Abuse and Neglect 37, 664–674.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flèche, S, Layard, R (2013). How mental health affects life-satisfaction. In Mental Illness and Unhappiness. German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP): Berlin (report number 600) (http://www.diw.de/soeppapers).Google Scholar
Frey, BS, Luechinger, S, Stutzer, A (2004). Valuing Public Goods: The Life Satisfaction Approach (CESifo working paper no. 1158) (http://hdl.handle.net/10419/76476).Google Scholar
Gardner, J, Oswald, AJ (2006). Do divorcing couples become happier by breaking up? Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series A, Statistics in Society 169, 319–336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamerle, A, Ronning, G (1995). Panel analysis for qualitative variables. In Handbook of Statistical Modeling for the Social and Behavioral Sciences (ed. Arminger, G., Clogg, C. C. and Sobel, M. E.), pp. 401–451. Plenum Press: New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kendler, KS, Myers, JM, Maes, HH, Keyes, CLM (2011). The relationship between the genetic and environmental influences on common internalizing psychiatric disorders and mental well-being. Behavior Genetics 41, 641–650.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koivumaa-Honkanen, H, Rissanen, T, Hintikka, J, Honkalampi, K, Haatainen, K, Tarja, S, Viinamäki, H (2011). Factors associated with life satisfaction in a 6-year follow-up of depressive out-patients. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 46, 595–605.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Layard, R, Chisholm, D, Patel, V, Saxena, S (2013). Mental Illness and Unhappiness. CEP Discussion Paper. Centre for Economic Performance: London (report number 1239) (http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/dp1239.pdf).Google Scholar
Lucas, RE (2005). Time does not heal all wounds: a longitudinal study of reaction and adaptation to divorce. Psychological Science 16, 945–950.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lucas, RE, Clark, AE (2006). Do people really adapt to marriage? Journal of Happiness Studies 7, 405–426.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lucas, RE, Clark, AE, Georgellis, Y, Diener, E (2003). Reexamining adaptation and the set point model of happiness: reactions to changes in marital status. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 84, 527–539.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mellor, D, Stokes, M, Firth, L, Hayashi, Y, Cummins, R (2008). Need for belonging, relationship satisfaction, loneliness, and life satisfaction. Personality and Individual Differences 45, 213–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murphy, JG, McDevitt-Murphy, ME, Barnett, NP (2005). Drink and be merry? Gender, life satisfaction, and alcohol consumption among college students. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors 19, 184–191.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Muthén, LK, Muthén, BO (1998–2012). Mplus Users Guide, 7th edn. Muthén & Muthén: Los Angeles, CA.Google Scholar
Nes, RB, Czajkowski, NO, Røysamb, E, Ørstavik, RE, Tambs, K, Reichborn-Kjennerud, T (2013). Major depression and life satisfaction: a population-based twin study. Journal of Affective Disorders 144, 51–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oswald, AJ, Powdthavee, N (2006). Does happiness adapt? A longitudinal study of disability with implications for economists and judges. IZA Discussion Papers. Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA): Bonn (report number 2208) (http://hdl.handle.net/10419/33766).Google Scholar
Ozer, DJ, Benet-Martinez, V (2006). Personality and the prediction of consequential outcomes. Annual Review of Psychology 57, 401–421.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Park, N (2004). The role of subjective well-being in positive youth development. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 591, 25–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryan, RM, Deci, EL (2001). On happiness and human potentials: a review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology 52, 141–166.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schermelleh-Engel, K, Moosbrugger, H, Müller, H (2003). Evaluating the fit of structural equation models: tests of significance and descriptive goodness-of-fit measures. Psychological Research 8, 23–74.Google Scholar
Seligman, ME, Csikszentmihalyi, M (2000). Positive psychology: an introduction. American Psychologist 55, 5–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sirgy, MJ (2012). The Psychology of Quality of Life: Hedonic Well-Being, Life Satisfaction and Eudaimonia. Social Indicators Research Series 50. Springer: Dordrecht.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steel, P, Schmidt, J, Shultz, J (2008). Refining the relationship between personality and subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin 134, 138–161.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sun, RCF, Shek, DTL (2012). Positive youth development, life satisfaction and problem behaviour among Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong: a replication. Social Indicators Research 105, 541–559.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swain, NR, Gibb, SJ, Horwood, LJ, Fergusson, DM (2012). Alcohol and cannabis abuse/dependence symptoms and life satisfaction in young adulthood. Drug and Alcohol Review 31, 327–333.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vaillant, GE (2000). Adaptive mental mechanisms: their role in a positive psychology. American Psychologist 55, 89–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Praag, BMS, Frijters, P, Ferrer-i-Carbonell, A (2001). The Anatomy of Subjective Well-being. German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) (discussion paper no. 265) (http://hdl.handle.net/10419/18249).Google Scholar
Winkelmann, L, Winkelmann, R (1998). Why are the unemployed so unhappy? Evidence from panel data. Economica 65, 1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Health Organization (1993). Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). World Health Organization: Geneva, Switzerland.Google Scholar
Zeger, SL, Liang, K-Y (1986). Longitudinal data analysis for discrete and continuous outcomes. Biometrics 42, 121–130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: PDF

Fergusson supplementary material

Fergusson supplementary material 1

Download Fergusson supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 290 KB