A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Subjective well-being predicts health behavior in a population-based 9-years follow-up of working-aged Finns




AuthorsStenlund Säde, Koivumaa-Honkanen Heli, Sillanmäki Lauri, Lagström Hanna, Rautava Päivi, Suominen Sakari

PublisherElsevier Inc.

Publication year2021

JournalPreventive Medicine Reports

Journal name in sourcePreventive Medicine Reports

Article number101635

Volume24

eISSN2211-3355

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101635

Web address https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335521003260?via%3Dihub

Self-archived copy’s web addresshttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/67960472


Abstract

The cross-sectional association between measures of subjective well-being (SWB) and various health behaviors is well-established. In this 9-year (2003–2012) follow-up study, we explored how a composite indicator of SWB (range 4–20) with four items (interest, happiness, and ease in life, as well as perceived loneliness) predicts a composite health behavior measure (range 0–4) including dietary habits, physical activity, alcohol consumption, and smoking status. Study subjects (n = 10,855) originated from a population-based random sample of working-age Finns in the Health and Social Support study (HeSSup). According to linear regression analysis, better SWB predicted better health behavior sum score with a β = 0.019 (p < 0.001) with a maximum effect of 0.3 points after adjusting for age (p = 0.038), gender (p < 0.001), education (p = 0.55), baseline self-reported diseases (p = 0.020), baseline health behavior (β = 0.49, p < 0.001), and the interaction between SWB and education (p < 0.001). The results suggest that SWB has long-term positive effect on health behavior. Thus, interventions aiming at health behavioral changes could benefit from taking into account SWB and its improvement in the intervention.


Downloadable publication

This is an electronic reprint of the original article.
This reprint may differ from the original in pagination and typographic detail. Please cite the original version.





Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 13:49