title: Positive emotion and health: going beyond the negative.
abstract: This study examined the relationships between positive emotions and health. Two positive emotions were considered, hope and curiosity, in conjunction with 3 physician-diagnosed disease outcomes: hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and respiratory tract infections. Medical data were abstracted over a 2-year period from 1,041 patient records from a multispecialty medical practice, and emotions were assessed through a mailed questionnaire. Across 3 disease outcomes, higher levels of hope were associated with a decreased likelihood of having or developing a disease. Higher levels of curiosity were also associated with decreased likelihood of hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Results suggest that positive emotion may play a protective role in the development of disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Cambridge, MA, USA. lrichman@duke.edu
authors.forename: Laura Smart
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Richman
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kubzansky
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Maselko
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kawachi
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Choo
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bauer
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009341:Negativism; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology