Some people are more likely to be grateful for the good experiences in their lives than others. Studies in positive psychology have identified a number of mental and physical health benefits from being grateful.
Chen and colleagues analyzed data from the Nurses Health Study to find out if older nurses who experienced more gratitude lived longer. They published their results in JAMA Psychiatry online on July 3, 2024. To read the full article, find out how to do that at the end of this blog.
The bottom line is that the nurses who experienced the most gratitude had a 9% lower death rate from any cause than the nurses with the lowest rate of gratitude.
Careful analysis showed that the benefit was not just because the nurses who expressed more gratitude had more things to be grateful for. The grateful feelings by themseves provided health benefits.
This was not surprising because the researchers were aware of prior research showing that gratitude leads to “increased emotional wellbeing, less depression, increased social wellbeing, increased biomarkers of health, and better sleep.”
How gratitude enhances lifespan is at least partly because gratitude promotes “thoughts and actions (e.g., sense of purpose, healthy lifestyles, prosocial behavior)” that improve mental and physical health.
Although gratitude lowered the death rate from any cause, it was shown specifically to reduce death from cardiovascular disease.
To read the original article, type this into a search engine such as google:
doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.1687
Peter M. Hartmann, MD
Family Medicine & Psychiatry
