Key result
Higher optimism is linked to better 10-year cardiovascular health but not slower deterioration.
Why the study?
Although cardiovascular health declines with age, little is known about protective factors that preserve it over time, prompting investigation into whether optimism is associated with better cardiovascular health.
Does optimism improve cardiovascular health over time in Black and White men and women?
Cohort (n=3,188)
Yes
Does optimism improve cardiovascular health over time in Black and White men and women?
Effect estimate: β 0.08 (95% CI 0.04-0.11)
p-value: p=≤0.001
Optimism is associated with better overall cardiovascular health over a 10-year period, though it does not appear to slow the rate of cardiovascular health deterioration over time.
Optimism associated with better long-term CV health; hypothesis-generating for interventions, should not yet change practice.
OBJECTIVE: Favorable cardiovascular health is associated with greater longevity free of cardiovascular disease. Although the prevalence of cardiovascular health decreases with age, less is known about protective factors that promote and preserve it over time. We investigated whether optimism was associated with better cardiovascular health over a 10-year period. METHODS: Participants included 3188 Black and White men and women from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study. Self-reported optimism was assessed in 2000 (this study's baseline) with the revised Life Orientation Test. Favorable cardiovascular health was defined by healthy status on five components of cardiovascular functioning that were repeatedly assessed through 2010 either clinically or via self-report (blood pressure, lipids, body mass index, diabetes, and smoking status). Linear mixed-effects models examined whether optimism predicted cardiovascular health over time, adjusting for covariates such as sociodemographic characteristics, health behaviors, health status, and depression diagnosis. RESULTS: In models adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, optimism was associated with better cardiovascular health across all time points (β = 0.08, 95% confidence interval = 0.04-0.11, p ≤ .001) but not with rate of change in cardiovascular health. Findings were similar when adjusting for additional covariates. Optimism did not interact significantly with race (p = .85) but did with sex, such that associations seemed stronger for women than for men (p = .03). CONCLUSIONS: Optimism may contribute to establishing future patterns of cardiovascular health in adulthood, but other factors may be more strongly related to how slowly or quickly cardiovascular health deteriorates over time.
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Boehm et al. (2020) conducted a cohort in Cardiovascular health (n=3,188). Optimism vs. Lower optimism was evaluated on Cardiovascular health score over time (β 0.08, 95% CI 0.04-0.11, p=≤0.001). Higher levels of optimism were associated with better cardiovascular health across a 10-year period (β 0.08) in middle-aged adults, though not with the rate of health deterioration.
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