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Cited by 194Optimism, Hope, and Well-beingCardiac Health and Mental HealthHealth and Wellbeing Research

Is Optimism Associated With Healthier Cardiovascular-Related Behavior?: Meta-Analyses of 3 Health Behaviors

Boehm, Julia K., Chen, Ying, Koga, Hayami, Mathur, Maya B., Vie, Loryana L., Kubzansky, Laura D.·2018·Circulation Research
DOI 10.1161/circresaha.117.310828
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Abstract

Optimistic people have reduced risk for cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular-related mortality compared with their less optimistic peers. One explanation for this is that optimistic people may be more likely to engage in healthy behavior like exercising frequently, eating fruits and vegetables, and avoiding cigarette smoking. However, researchers have not formally determined the extent or direction of optimism’s association with health behaviors. Moreover, it is unclear whether optimism temporally precedes health behaviors or whether the relationship is because of shared common causes. We conducted random effects meta-analyses examining optimism’s association with 3 health behaviors relevant for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. PubMed and PsycINFO databases were searched for studies published through November 2017 reporting on optimism’s relationship with physical activity, diet, and cigarette smoking. We identified 34 effect sizes for physical activity (n=90 845), 15 effect sizes for diet (n=47 931), and 15 effect sizes for cigarette smoking (n=15 052). Findings suggested that more optimistic individuals tended to engage in healthier behaviors compared with less optimistic individuals, but effect sizes were modest ( r activity =0.07, P <0.0001; r diet =0.12, P <0.0001; and r smoking =0.07, P =0.001). Most evidence was cross-sectional (≥53% of effect sizes) and did not consider sociodemographic characteristics (<53% of effect sizes) or psychological distress (<27% of effect sizes) as potential confounders. Optimism is associated with healthier behaviors that protect against cardiovascular disease, although most evidence was relatively low quality. Additional longitudinal and experimental research is required to determine whether optimism causally contributes to healthy behaviors and whether optimism could be an effective target for preventing cardiovascular disease.

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  • Optimism is associated with healthier behaviors such as more physical activity, not smoking, healthy diet score, better sleep quality, and higher composite cardiovascular health scores.

    “Multiple studies have found that optimism is associated with healthier behaviors such as more physical activity, not smoking, 55 healthy diet score, 56 better sleep quality, 57 and higher composite cardiovascular health scores. 57-59”

    From Psychological Health, Well-Being, and the Mind-Heart-Body Connection: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association (2021) · cites this paper as [55]

    The citation range attached to this source supports the sentence’s claim about higher composite cardiovascular health scores. The Discussion reports associations with physical activity, healthier eating, and less smoking, but our copy does not report an association with a composite cardiovascular health score (searched: composite cardiovascular health scores, overall cardiovascular health composite index). (LLM, conf=0.72)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Boehm, J. K., Chen, Y., Koga, H., Mathur, M. B., Vie, L. L., & Kubzansky, L. D.
Affiliations
Harvard University (US)
ORCID
Venue
Circulation Research
Publisher
Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Published
2018-04-13
Volume
122
Issue
8
Pages
1119-1134
ISSN
  • 0009-7330 (ISSN-L)
  • 1524-4571
DOI
10.1161/circresaha.117.310828
OpenAlex
W2798251290
Cited by
194
References
22
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 43 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 1
FWCI
2.06
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Circulation Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Chapman University Digital Commons (Chapman University) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
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 › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health and Wellbeing Research
Keywords
optimism, cardiovascular disease prevention, physical activity, diet, fruit and vegetable intake, cigarette smoking, cardiovascular health behaviors, causal inference, psychological distress, sociodemographic confounding
MeSH terms
Optimism, Adult, Attitude to Health, Cardiovascular Diseases, Cross-Sectional Studies, Diet, Feeding Behavior, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Smoking, Health Behavior, Exercise, Causality

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