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The study, published
in Psychosomatic Medicine, is available online at
www.psychosomaticmedicine.org.
Patricia A. Boyle, PhD, and her
colleagues from the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, studied 1,238 community-dwelling
elderly participants from two ongoing research studies, the Rush Memory
and Aging Project and the Minority Aging Research Study. None had
dementia. Data from baseline evaluations of purpose in life and up to
five years of follow-up were used to test the hypothesis that greater
purpose in life is associated with a reduced risk of mortality among
community-dwelling older persons.
Purpose in life reflects the
tendency to derive meaning from life’s experiences and be focused and
intentional, according to Boyle.
After adjusting for age, sex,
education and race, a higher purpose of life was associated with a
substantially reduced risk of mortality. Thus, a person with high
purpose in life was about half as likely to die over the follow-up
period compared to a person with low purpose. The association of purpose
in life with mortality did not differ among men and women or whites and
blacks, and the finding persisted even after controlling for depressive
symptoms, disability, neuroticism, the number of medical conditions and
income. During the study period, 151 participants died.
“The finding that purpose in life is
related to longevity in older persons suggests that aspects of human
flourishing—particularly the tendency to derive meaning from life’s
experiences and possess a sense of intentionality and
goal-directedness—contribute to successful aging,” said Boyle.
Significant associations with
mortality were found with three specific items on the purpose of life
questionnaire to determine the study participants’ agreement with the
following statements: “I sometimes feel as if I’ve done all there is to
do in life;” “I used to set goals for myself, but that now seems like a
waste of time;” and “My daily activities often seem trivial and
unimportant to me.”
“We are excited about these findings
because they suggest that positive factors such as having a sense of
purpose in life are important contributors to health,” said Boyle.
The researchers note that knowledge
of the relationship of purpose of life with other demographic
characteristics is limited and future studies are needed to examine
whether the association of purpose of life with mortality might be
modified by other variables not measured in this study, such as how
religious a participant may be. In addition, researchers suggest that
future studies should examine whether purpose in life can be enhanced in
older persons with interventions.
“Although we think that having a
sense of purpose in life is important across the lifespan, measurement
of purpose in life in older persons in particular may reveal an enduring
sense of meaningfulness and intentionality in life that somehow provides
a buffer against negative health outcomes,” said Boyle.
The Rush Memory and Aging Project,
which began in 1997, is a longitudinal clinical-pathological study of
common chronic conditions of aging. Participants are older persons
recruited from about 40 continuous care retirement communities and
senior subsidized housing facilities in and around the Chicago
Metropolitan area. More than 1,200 older persons are enrolled in the
study.
The Minority Aging Research Study
began in 2004 and is a study of risk factors for cognitive decline in
older Blacks. Participants are recruited from community-based
organizations, churches, and senior subsidized housing facilities in and
around the Chicago Metropolitan Area. More than 350 older persons are
enrolled in the study.
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This study was
funded by the National Institutes on Aging. The authors thank the NIA
for supporting this work and are indebted to the participants of the
Rush Memory and Aging Project and the Minority Aging Research Study for
their invaluable contributions to aging research.
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