Optimism May Help Women Stay Mobile in Older Age

Optimistic older women are more likely to maintain some of their physical abilities as they grow older, researchers have found.

A team of scientists from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health asked nearly 6,000 women aged over 65 to complete a test assessing how positive they were.

The women, recruited from 40 clinical centers in the United States, were also tested on their grip strength, mobility standing up from a chair and their walking speed at four different time points over six years.

At the beginning of the study, those more optimistic were more likely to have better grip strength and standing mobility than those who were less optimistic. However, they did not have a faster walking speed.

Over the course of the study, the more optimistic women saw slower rates of decline in standing mobility and walking time, but not grip strength.

According to the researchers, the findings suggest that changing your mindset—and developing a tendency to think more positively—could improve your chances of maintaining mobility in older age.

"More optimistic individuals may be more likely to stay physically active and have other healthier behaviors—e.g. healthier diet—that may help them maintain physical functioning," paper author Dr Hayami Koga told Newsweek.

She added that optimistic people may be more inclined to regularly engage in certain social activities, like attending religious gatherings or volunteering, that help them to stay active.

"There may also be some neurobiological reasons," Koga said, explaining: "For example, those with higher optimism may have healthier lipid, immune, or autonomic functioning that may lead to better physical functioning over time."

When faced with a stressful situation, optimistic people may also cope more effectively and, as a result, experience less anxiety and worry. Having high stress levels has been found to influence how effectively the body's immune system can fight off pathogens.

The mechanism for the connection between health and positivity is unclear, but the researchers propose several theories. Firstly, more positive people may be better protected against the inflammatory damage of stress. While short bursts of stress can be helpful in certain situations, such as moving out of the way of danger, the prolonged release of stress hormones can lead to inflammation.

Additionally, optimism may help people make better health and general life decisions. Positive thinking has also been linked to greater resilience, which can help people overcome adversity more easily.

Koga explained that while the present study only looked at the effects of optimism on women—who, she notes, tend to experience more physical function problems with age—it is expected that similar associations would be seen in men.

The full findings of the study were published in JAMA Psychiatry.

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Update 03/21/24, 12:04 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comments from Hayami Koga.