Adolescents with an optimistic view of life may have better health in adulthood, according to new Northwestern University study published in the July issue in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Teenagers are known for their passing states of distress, however, shown happy and positive during the tumultuous years of adolescence are to be healthier as adults, according to this study, one of the first to focus on the positive the psychological characteristics in adolescence can have on long-term health. The researchers also found that adolescents with a positive attitude had a lower risk of engaging in unhealthy behaviors like excessive drinking, smoking, drugs or eat unhealthy foods in the transition to adulthood. "Our study shows that cultivate optimism and well-being during adolescence may be a promising way to improve health in the long term," says Lindsay Till Hoyt, principal study author and a doctoral student in human development and social policy at Northwestern.

The results come from analysis of data from 10,147 young people as part of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Add Health began collecting data on this group of teenagers in 1994, posing a series of questions, including some physical and emotional health and wellbeing. The group was followed from 1996 to 2001.

To measure positive well-being in adolescence, Hoyt and his team turned to 1994 data from this specific sample of youth and looked at responses to a series of questions. They focused on questions about topics that measured the views of teenagers happiness, enjoyment of life, hope in the future, self-esteem and social acceptance. The researchers controlled conditions in the study of adolescent health, socioeconomic status, symptoms of depression and other known indicators of long-term health.

"Our results show that well-being during adolescence is significantly associated with reports of good health in adulthood," says Emma K. Adam, co-author and professor of education, social policy and intellectual property rights in Cells to Society (C2S).

The second outcome of the study showed that youth who reported greater well as teenagers in 1994 were less likely to engage in harmful health behaviors as young adults in 2001.

According to Hoyt, "many of the programs that seek to improve the health of adolescents focus on specific problems, but if the welfare of adolescents affect their long-term health, strengthen and try to develop positive psychological characteristics is something we be developed have been used. positive youth development approaches to reduce problems such as delinquency and improve school performance, but this method can also be a way to help improve the overall health of young people. "

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Tags : Adolescent, healthy adults, optimistic, health, adulthood, study, psychological, characteristics
Category : Health

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