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 In a study that followed nearly 7,000 people over age 50 for more
than a decade, researchers determined that people were more likely
to die at a younger age if they felt their lives had little purpose,
according to the report published in JAMA Network Open.
"We found a strong association between life purpose and mortality in
the U. S.," said the study's lead author, Leigh Pearce of the
University of Michigan School of Public Health. "This has also been
found in a number of studies conducted in a number of populations
and seems to be quite a robust association."
What constitutes "life purpose?"
"I think it's about what people think is most valuable to them,"
Pearce said. "Community, achievement, reputation, relationships,
spirituality, kindness--these can all feed into any one person's
life purpose. So there is not a specific definition for any one
person."
Pearce and her colleagues explored the topic using data from The
Health and Retirement Study, a national cohort study of US adults
older than 50. The earliest participants were enrolled in the study
in 1992 and were born between 1931 and 1941.
For the new study, the researchers analyzed data from 6,985
individuals who filled out a seven-item survey in 2006. Participants
were told to rate each item on the survey on a scale of one to six.
Among the seven items were: "I enjoy making plans for the future and
working to make them a reality"; "My daily activities often seem
trivial to me"; "I don't have a good sense of what I'm trying to
accomplish in life"; and "I live life one day at a time and don't
really think about the future."
Higher scores on the survey indicated greater purpose in life. When
comparing individuals who scored lowest on the survey to those who
scored highest, the researchers found that the low scorers were 2.43
times more likely to have died by the end of the study.
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Those with the lowest life purpose scores were 2.66 times more
likely to die from heart, circulatory and blood conditions, compared
to participants with the highest scores. Those with the lowest life
purpose scores were also twice as likely to die from digestive tract
conditions, compared to participants with the highest scores.
Other studies have found that low life purpose scores are associated
with higher levels of inflammatory markers and stress hormones,
Pearce said. "And there is one study that shows that life purpose is
associated with telomere length," she added.
Those life purpose scores can be changed, Pearce said. "The
literature shows that meditation or yoga can be used to help build
life purpose," she explained. "And there are studies showing that
volunteering can have a positive effect on well-being. So I think
taking steps that affect and improve life purpose could be
beneficial."
As the study suggests, volunteering can be a good strategy for those
searching for life purpose, said Rick Morycz, an associate professor
of psychiatry and social work at the University of Pittsburgh
Medical Center and a member of the board of directors at UPMC's
Aging Institute.
The key, Morycz said, "may be to be more altruistic and to engage in
compassionate behavior. One thing I have tried in my own clinical
work helping people who are struggling is to look at ways to find
their own goals and meaning in life. Part of that is suggesting that
people try to help others. It doesn't have to be structured. But it
has to be regular, like perhaps every Wednesday volunteering for
Meals on Wheels."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2HANeVO JAMA Network Open, online May 24,
2019.
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