Prospective Study of the Association Between Dispositional Optimism and Incident Heart Failure
Open accessAbstract
Background—: Although higher optimism has been linked with an array of positive health behaviors, biological processes, and cardiovascular outcomes, the relationship between optimism and heart failure has not been examined. In the United States, 80% of heart failures occur in adults aged 65+ years. Therefore, we examined whether higher optimism was linked with a reduced incidence of heart failure among older adults. Methods and Results—: Prospective data were from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative study of older US adults. Our sample included 6808 participants who were followed for 4 years. Multiple logistic regression models were used to assess whether optimism was independently associated with incident heart failure. We adjusted for sociodemographic, behavioral, biological, and psychological covariates. Higher optimism was associated with a lower risk of incident heart failure during the follow-up period. In a model that adjusted for sociodemographic factors, each SD increase in optimism had an odds ratio of 0.74 (95% confidence interval, 0.63–0.85) for heart failure. Effects of optimism persisted even after adjusting for a wide range of covariates. There was also evidence of a dose–response relationship. As optimism increased, risk of developing heart failure decreased monotonically, with a 48% reduced odds among people with the highest versus lowest optimism. Conclusions—: This is the first study to suggest that optimism is associated with a lower risk of heart failure. If future studies confirm these findings, they may be used to inform new strategies for preventing or delaying the onset of heart failure.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
An optimistic frame of mind is associated with healthy aging and a lower risk of CVD, including stroke and heart failure, and a lower risk of all-cause mortality.
“An optimistic frame of mind has been shown to be associated with healthy aging 60 and a lower risk of CVD, 61 including stroke 62 and heart failure, 63 and a lower risk of all-cause mortality. 64”
From Psychological Health, Well-Being, and the Mind-Heart-Body Connection: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association (2021) · cites this paper as [63]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Statistical Analysis with Missing Data
Little, R. J. A., & Rubin, D. B. (2002) · Wiley Series in Probability and Statistics · doi:10.1002/9781119013563 · Cited by 8,473 · see citing works
Scheier, M. F., Carver, C. S., & Bridges, M. W. (1994) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.67.6.1063 · Cited by 7,456 · see citing works
Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics—2010 Update: A Report From the American Heart Association
WRITING GROUP MEMBERS, Lloyd-Jones, D., Adams, R. J., Brown, T. M., Carnethon, M., Dai, S., De Simone, G., Ferguson, T. B., Ford, E., Furie, K., et al. (2010) · Circulation · doi:10.1161/circulationaha.109.192667 · Cited by 5,700 · see citing works
Epidemiology and risk profile of heart failure
Bui, A. L., Horwich, T. B., & Fonarow, G. C. (2011) · Nature Reviews Cardiology · doi:10.1038/nrcardio.2010.165 · Cited by 2,077 · see citing works
The epidemiology, pathophysiology, and management of psychosocial risk factors in cardiac practice
Rozanski, A., Blumenthal, J. A., Davidson, K. W., Saab, P. G., & Kubzansky, L. (2005) · Journal of the American College of Cardiology · doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2004.12.005 · Cited by 1,238 · see citing works
Self-citationHe, J., Ogden, L. G., Bazzano, L. A., Vupputuri, S., Loria, C., & Whelton, P. K. (2001) · Archives of Internal Medicine · doi:10.1001/archinte.161.7.996 · Cited by 1,172 · see citing works
Boehm, J. K., & Kubzansky, L. D. (2012) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0027448 · Cited by 909 · see citing works
Self-citationPsychological well-being and ill-Being: do they have distinct or mirrored biological correlates?
Ryff, C. D., Dienberg Love, G., Urry, H. L., Muller, D., Rosenkranz, M. A., Friedman, E. M., Davidson, R. J., & Singer, B. (2006) · Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics · doi:10.1159/000090892 · Cited by 672 · see citing works
A meta-analytic review of the Penn Resiliency Program’s effect on depressive symptoms.
Brunwasser, S. M., Gillham, J. E., & Kim, E. S. (2009) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0017671 · Cited by 428 · see citing works
Self-citationBecome more optimistic by imagining a best possible self: Effects of a two week intervention
Meevissen, Y. M. C., Peters, M. L., & Alberts, H. J. E. M. (2011) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2011.02.012 · Cited by 335 · see citing works
Optimism, pessimism and mental health: A twin/adoption analysis
Plomin, R., Scheier, M. F., Bergeman, C. S., Pedersen, N. L., Nesselroade, J. R., & McClearn, G. E. (1992) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/0191-8869(92)90009-e · Cited by 283 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 24
- [1]McCullough PA Philbin EF Spertus JA Kaatz S Sandberg KR Weaver WD Confirmation of a heart failure epidemic: Findings from the Resource Utilization Among Congestive Heart Failure (REACH) Study J Am Coll Cardiol 2002 39 60 69 11755288
- [5]Gottdiener JS Arnold AM Aurigemma GP Polak JF Tracy RP Kitzman DW Gardin JM Rutledge JE Boineau RC Predictors of congestive heart failure in the elderly: The Cardiovascular Health Study J Am Coll Cardiol 2000 35 1628 1637 10807470
- [7]Giltay EJ Geleijnse JM Zitman FG Hoekstra T Schouten EG Dispositional optimism and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in a prospective cohort of elderly Dutch men and women Arch Gen Psychiatry 2004 61 1126 1135 15520360
- [8]Tindle HA Chang YF Kuller LH Manson JE Robinson JG Rosal MC Siegle GJ Matthews KA Optimism, cynical hostility, and incident coronary heart disease and mortality in the Women’s Health Initiative Circulation 2009 120 656 662 19667234 PMC2901870
- [9]Kim ES Park N Peterson C Dispositional optimism protects older adults from stroke: The Health and Retirement Study Stroke 2011 42 2855 2859 21778446
- [10]Scheier MF Matthews KA Owens JF Magovern SGJ Lefebvre RC Abbott RA Carver CS Dispositional optimism and recovery from coronary artery bypass surgery: The beneficial effects on physical and psychological well-being J Pers Soc Psychol 1989 57 1024 1040 2614656
- [12]Carver CS Scheier MF Segerstrom SC Optimism Clin Psychol Rev 2010 30 879 889 20170998 PMC4161121
- [13]Boehm JK Williams DR Rimm EB Ryff C Kubzansky LD Association between optimism and serum antioxidants in the Midlife in the United States Study Psychosom Med 2013 75 2 10 23257932 PMC3539819
- [14]Giltay EJ Geleijnse JM Zitman FG Buijsse B Kromhout D Lifestyle and dietary correlates of dispositional optimism in men: The Zutphen Elderly Study J Psychosom Res 2007 63 483 490 17980220
- [16]Heinonen K Räikkönen K Matthews KA Scheier MF Raitakari OT Pulkki L Keltikangas-Järvinen L Socioeconomic status in childhood and adulthood: Associations with dispositional optimism and pessimism over a 21-year follow-up J Pers 2006 74 1111 1126 16787430
- [20]Rich MW Heart failure in the 21st Century a cardiogeriatric syndrome J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2001 56 M88 M96 11213282
- [23]Health and Retirement Study, (HRS Data Files; 2006, 2008, 2010) public use dataset. Produced and distributed by the University of Michigan with funding from the National Institute on Aging (grant number NIA U01AG009740). Ann Arbor, MI, (2013).
- [24]Djoussé L DJ Relation between modifiable lifestyle factors and lifetime risk of heart failure JAMA 2009 302 394 400 19622818 PMC2742484
- [25]Dhingra R Gaziano JM Djoussé L Chronic kidney disease and the risk of heart failure in men Circ Heart Fail 2011 4 138 144 21216838 PMC3059366
- [26]Heliövaara M Aromaa A Klaukka T Knekt P Joukamaa M Impivaara O Reliability and validity of interview data on chronic diseases. The Mini-Finland health survey J Clin Epidemiol 1993 46 181 191 8437034
- [27]Simpson CF Boyd CM Carlson MC Griswold ME Guralnik JM Fried LP Agreement between self-report of disease diagnoses and medical record validation in disabled older women: Factors that modify agreement J Am Geriatr Soc 2004 52 123 127 14687326
- [28]Englert H Müller-Nordhorn J Seewald S Sonntag F Völler H Meyer-Sabellek W Wegscheider K Windler E Katus H Willich SN Is patient self-report an adequate tool for monitoring cardiovascular conditions in patients with hypercholesterolemia? J Public Health 2010 32 387 394 20208067
- [29]Okura Y Urban LH Mahoney DW Jacobsen SJ Rodeheffer RJ Agreement between self-report questionnaires and medical record data was substantial for diabetes, hypertension, myocardial infarction and stroke but not for heart failure J Clin Epidemiol 2004 57 1096 1103 15528061
- [34]Beck AT Epstein N Brown G Steer RA An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: Psychometric properties J Consult Clin Psychol 1988 56 893 897 3204199
- [35]Costa PT Zonderman AB McCrae RR Williams RB Cynicism and paranoid alienation in the Cook and Medley HO Scale Psychosom Med 1986 48 283 285 3704090
- [36]Van Belle G Statistical rules of thumb 2008 Hoboken, NJ Wiley
- [39]Boehm JK Williams DR Rimm EB Ryff C Kubzansky LD Relation between optimism and lipids in midlife Am J Cardiol 2013 111 1425 1431 23433765 PMC3644345
- [40]Matthews KA Raikkonen K Sutton-Tyrrell K Kuller LH Optimistic attitudes protect against progression of carotid atherosclerosis in healthy middle-aged women Psychosom Med 2004 66 640 644 15385685
- [41]Roy B Diez-Roux AV Seeman T Ranjit N Shea S Cushman M Association of optimism and pessimism with inflammation and hemostasis in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) Psychosom Med 2010 72 134 140 20100888 PMC2842951
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Levine, G. N., Cohen, B. E., Commodore-Mensah, Y., Fleury, J., Huffman, J. C., Khalid, U., Labarthe, D. R., Lavretsky, H., Michos, E. D., Spatz, E. S., et al. (2021) · Circulation · doi:10.1161/cir.0000000000000947 · Cited by 865 · see citing works
Self-citationPositive Psychological Well-Being and Cardiovascular Disease
Kubzansky, L. D., Huffman, J. C., Boehm, J. K., Hernandez, R., Kim, E. S., Koga, H. K., Feig, E. H., Lloyd-Jones, D. M., Seligman, M. E. P., & Labarthe, D. R. (2018) · Journal of the American College of Cardiology · doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2018.07.042 · Cited by 429 · see citing works
Self-citationPsychological Well-Being and Physical Health: Associations, Mechanisms, and Future Directions
Hernandez, R., Bassett, S. M., Boughton, S. W., Schuette, S. A., Shiu, E. W., & Moskowitz, J. T. (2018) · Emotion Review · doi:10.1177/1754073917697824 · Cited by 259 · see citing works
“In fact, investigators noted a dose–response relationship whereby a monotonic decrease in heart failure risk was observed with each stepwise increase in optimism (Kim et al., 2014).”
BackgroundRozanski, A., Bavishi, C., Kubzansky, L. D., & Cohen, R. (2019) · JAMA Network Open · doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.12200 · Cited by 216 · see citing works
Self-citationDuBois, C. M., Lopez, O. V., Beale, E. E., Healy, B. C., Boehm, J. K., & Huffman, J. C. (2015) · International Journal of Cardiology · doi:10.1016/j.ijcard.2015.05.121 · Cited by 187 · see citing works
Population-based norms of the Life Orientation Test–Revised (LOT-R).
Schou-Bredal, I., Heir, T., Skogstad, L., Bonsaksen, T., Lerdal, A., Grimholt, T., & Ekeberg, Ø. (2017) · International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.ijchp.2017.07.005 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Pänkäläinen, M., Kerola, T., Kampman, O., Kauppi, M., & Hintikka, J. (2016) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-016-3764-8 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
- Authors
- Kim, E. S., Smith, J., & Kubzansky, L. D.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Venue
- Circulation: Heart Failure
- Published
- 2014-05
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 394-400
- ISSN
- 1941-3289 (ISSN-L)
- 1941-3297
- PMC
- PMC4608236
- OpenAlex
- W2067827545
- Cited by
- 115
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 3
- FWCI
- 14.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Circulation Heart Failure (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
- Pioneer Fund
- National Institute on Aging (R01AG040635, U01AG009740)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Optimism, Hope, and Well-being
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiac Health and Mental Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Heart Failure Treatment and Management
- Keywords
- dispositional optimism, heart failure, incident heart failure, older adults, cardiovascular risk, dose-response relationship, heart failure prevention, Health and Retirement Study
- MeSH terms
- Affect, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Emotions, Female, Heart Failure, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Prospective Studies, Retrospective Studies, Risk Factors, Socioeconomic Factors, United States, Incidence, Logistic Models, Outcome Assessment, Health Care
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
