Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1893/12156
Appears in Collections:Management, Work and Organisation Journal Articles
Peer Review Status: Refereed
Title: The absence of positive psychological (eudemonic) well-being as a risk factor for depression: A ten year cohort study
Author(s): Wood, Alex M
Joseph, Stephen
Contact Email: alex.wood@stir.ac.uk
Keywords: Depression
Personality
Positive psychology
Eudemonic
Psychological well-being
Subjective well-being
Autonomy
Personal growth
Purpose in life
Relationships
Environmental mastery
Personal growth
Positive psychology
Issue Date: May-2010
Date Deposited: 22-Apr-2013
Citation: Wood AM & Joseph S (2010) The absence of positive psychological (eudemonic) well-being as a risk factor for depression: A ten year cohort study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 122 (3), pp. 213-217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2009.06.032
Abstract: Background: Previous research in psychiatry has focused on how negative personality traits and impaired well-being form risk factors for depression. This study presents the first longitudinal test of whether the absence of positive well-being forms an additional unique risk factor for depression. Methods: A large cohort of 5566 people completed a survey at two time points, aged 51-56 at Time 1 and 63-67 at Time 2. Positive psychological well-being included measures self-acceptance, autonomy, purpose in life, positive relationships with others, environmental mastery, and personal growth. Personality was measured as extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience. Depression was measured with the CES-D scale. Results: People with low positive well-being were 7.16 times more likely to be depressed 10-years later. After controlling for personality, negative functioning, prior depression, demographic, economic, and physical heath variables, people with low positive well-being were still over twice as likely to be depressed. Limitations: All measures were self-report, rather than based on peer-report of physician diagnosis. An aging population was studied, replication is needed in younger populations. Conclusions: The absence of positive well-being forms a substantial risk factor for depression, independent of the presence of negative functioning and impaired physical health. Older people with low PWB are very likely to become depressed over 10 years, and preventative ;intervention and monitoring of these individuals are indicated.
DOI Link: 10.1016/j.jad.2009.06.032
Rights: The publisher does not allow this work to be made publicly available in this Repository. Please use the Request a Copy feature at the foot of the Repository record to request a copy directly from the author. You can only request a copy if you wish to use this work for your own research or private study.
Licence URL(s): http://www.rioxx.net/licenses/under-embargo-all-rights-reserved

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
Wood_2010_The_absence_of_positive_psychological_eudemonic_well-being.pdfFulltext - Published Version182.18 kBAdobe PDFUnder Embargo until 3000-01-01    Request a copy

Note: If any of the files in this item are currently embargoed, you can request a copy directly from the author by clicking the padlock icon above. However, this facility is dependent on the depositor still being contactable at their original email address.



This item is protected by original copyright



Items in the Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

The metadata of the records in the Repository are available under the CC0 public domain dedication: No Rights Reserved https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

If you believe that any material held in STORRE infringes copyright, please contact library@stir.ac.uk providing details and we will remove the Work from public display in STORRE and investigate your claim.