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Health and happiness in young Swiss adults

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Abstract

Purpose: To explore whether self-reported happiness is associated with mental and physical health status among young adults. Methods: Cross-sectional survey of 1257 randomly selected university students in Geneva, Switzerland. The questionnaire included an item that probed the feeling of happiness in the past month, the Short Form-12 health survey (from which mental and physical health scores were computed), scales to measure self-esteem, stress, and social support, reports of various life problems, and socio-demographic information. Results: Most participants felt happy all of the time or most of the time (63%). In multivariate analysis, feeling happy all or most of the time was strongly associated with better mental health (odds ratios for consecutive quartiles of mental health scores: 1.0 (reference), 6.8 (95% confidence interval (CI): 4.5–10.1), 19.2 (95% CI: 12.2–30.2), 39.9 (95% CI: 22.4–71.0)), but also with the feeling of getting enough love and affection (item from the social support scale, odds ratio: 1.9; 95% CI: 1.4–2.7), female sex (odds ratio: 1.5; 95% CI: 1.1–2.1), being Swiss (odds ratio: 1.8; 95% CI: 1.3–2.5), and higher self-esteem (odds ratios for consecutive quartiles ranged from 1.0 to 3.5, 95% CI: 2.1–5.8). The association between happiness and physical health was weak and statistically non-significant. Conclusions: The strong association between happiness and mental health suggests that asking people if they are happy may help identify mental health care needs. Self-reported happiness may also be a useful outcome measure for evaluation of health interventions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Quality of Care Unit, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland

    Thomas V. Perneger & Patrick A. Bovier

  2. Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

    Thomas V. Perneger

  3. Department of Community Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland

    Patricia M. Hudelson & Patrick A. Bovier

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  1. Thomas V. Perneger
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  2. Patricia M. Hudelson
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  3. Patrick A. Bovier
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Perneger, T.V., Hudelson, P.M. & Bovier, P.A. Health and happiness in young Swiss adults. Qual Life Res 13, 171–178 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:QURE.0000015314.97546.60

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:QURE.0000015314.97546.60

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