Longitudinal associations of suffering with subsequent multidimensional well-being in the Global Flourishing Study

Suffering is a distressing personal experience that may have important implications for well-being, but little is known about its population-level links with well-being. We use longitudinal survey data from the multinational Global Flourishing Study to examine prospective associations between suffering and multidimensional well-being assessed approximately 1 year later. We analyzed two waves of nationally representative data from adults living in 23 countries and territories (N = 207,919). Following the analytic template for outcome-wide designs, we estimated a series of country-specific weighted regression analyses where each Wave 2 outcome was regressed on Wave 1 suffering (controlling for Wave 1 demographic and retrospectively recalled childhood variables). Random effects meta-analyses were used to pool country-specific estimates of associations for the 56 main outcomes encompassing psychological, social, physical, volitional, and material dimensions of well-being. We find some evidence of association between suffering and worse well-being for both composite indicators and most specific well-being indicators when country-specific estimates are pooled meta-analytically. Somewhat stronger and more consistent associations are observed for some domains (e.g., psychological well-being) than others (e.g., social participation). Pooled cross-national estimates of association generally attenuate after applying a more conservative analytic approach in which additional adjustment is made for principal components extracted from the Wave 1 outcomes. Country-specific estimates show some cross-national variation. Our findings suggest that suffering is associated with worse well-being across a wide range of outcomes in diverse national contexts. Suffering may be an important consideration in research, interventions, and policies aimed at supporting population well-being. Suffering is a personal experience of distress that can feel intense or persistent. We used two waves of longitudinal survey data from 207,919 adults living in 23 countries and territories to examine whether suffering predicts well-being about 1 year later. Outcomes covered many areas of life, such as physical health, mental well-being, social relationships, and financial circumstances. We found that suffering is associated with worse outcomes in many areas, though the strength of these associations varied across countries. These findings suggest that suffering may be an important factor to consider when trying to improve well-being in different populations. Cowden et al. use two waves of Global Flourishing Study data from 23 countries and territories (N = 207,919) to examine whether suffering predicts well-being outcomes about a year later. Findings show that suffering is associated with worse well-being across many outcomes spanning multiple life domains, with some heterogeneity across countries.