Relationship between healthy lifestyle behaviours and subjective wellbeing: an european observational study

Abstract

BACKGROUND // A healthy lifestyle is related to physical and mental health. The aim of this study was to assess whether different healthy lifestyle behaviours are associated with experiential and evaluative well-being.

METHODS // A total of 10,800 participants from Finland, Poland and Spain were interviewed in 2011-2012. Physical activity, fruit and vegetable consumption, smoking, alcohol use, and sleep quality were self-reported. Life satisfaction was measured with the Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale. Positive and negative affect were assessed using an abbreviated version of the Day Reconstruction Method. Multivariate regression analyses were performed.

RESULTS // Healthy lifestyle behaviours (consumption of five or more servings of fruit and vegetables per day, moderate or high physical activity, being a non-daily smoker, and having a good sleep quality) were positively associated with evaluative well-being (ß=0.23 p<0.001; ß=0.16, p<0.001; ß=0.26, p<0.001; ß=0.23, p<0.001, respectively), after controlling for confounding variables such as health and depression. Good sleep quality was related with higher positive affect (ß=0.29, p<0.001), lower negative affect (ß=-0.15, p<0.001) and higher life satisfaction (ß=0.23, p<0.001), after adjusting for those confounding variables.

CONCLUSIONS // A healthy lifestyle is an important correlate of well-being independently of its effects on health. Healthy lifestyles could be considered when developing strategies to improve not only the physical health, but also the well-being of the population.