Advances in health, education, disease prevention and treatments are high on the list of things that have allowed people to extend their lives, especially since chronic medical conditions and engaging in unhealthy behaviors are known risk factors for early death, however findings from a longitudinal study of over 6,000 adults suggests that certain psychological factors may be the strongest predictors of how long we’ll live.
The findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
“Our study shows that two psychological variables, lower self-rated health and age-related decrements in processing speed, appear to be especially important indicators of elevated mortality risk in middle-age and older adults,” says psychological scientist Stephen Aichele of the University of Geneva in Switzerland. “This information may facilitate diagnostic accuracy and timely interventions.”