Relationship between Subjective Well-being and Mental Disorders Across the Lifespan

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About this Research Topic

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Background

The determination of individuals' subjective well-being demands a multidimensional assessment, including both cognitive judgments, as well as affective reactions. Three aspects of subjective well-being can be distinguished: evaluative well-being (life satisfaction), experienced well-being (the emotions that people experience in their lives), and eudaimonic well-being (sense of purpose and meaning in life).
Subjective well-being has been shown to positively affect health status. Nevertheless, the relationship between subjective well-being and mental health across the lifespan still needs more attention. The question of whether experiencing more daily positive emotions, less negative emotions, or judging our lives in a more positive way, has a comorbidity or mortality impact, remains largely unanswered.
Moreover, the study of the extent, to which subjective well-being changes, throughout older age, may provide insights on how to foster healthy aging. Meanwhile, some previous works have found an approximately U-shaped SWB trajectory with age, with decreasing levels of SWB (i.e. lower LS, lower PA, and/or higher NA) towards the ages of 40 and 50 and increasing levels afterward, other studies have not found that U-shaped pattern over time.

The European Union has identified priorities for mental health and mental well-being at all ages within the European Framework for Action on Mental Health and Well-being. Additionally, countrywide initiatives are now recognizing the importance of enhancing positive mental health among older adults as a desirable goal associated with positive societal outcomes. Moreover, approximately half of mental disorders debut in the early stages, being the reason why prevention and well-being are important.
Furthermore, it is necessary to state that the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly affected our subjective well-being and mental health, especially in vulnerable groups (e.g. young people, and/or older people with chronic diseases).
Defining the relationship between positive mental health and mental disorders across the lifespan would allow us to design targeted interventions that reduce mental illness, comorbidity, or even mortality, through improving subjective well-being.

With the present research topic, we want to answer the question of whether people who experience positive emotions more frequently than negative emotions, and who report greater satisfaction with life and purpose/meaning in life, are not only physically, but also psychologically healthier, and survive longer. Studies focusing on evaluative, experienced, and/or eudaimonic well-being, and their impact on mental health (reducing the psychopathology), across the lifespan are welcomed.
The types of manuscripts we are interested in are the following: original research, systematic reviews, review articles, mini-reviews, clinical trials, case reports, community case studies, and brief research reports.

Keywords: Positive mental health, positive affect, psychopathology, ageing, ill-health

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