Q: This international study found that those who have at least one of these have higher levels of happiness and fewer depressive symptoms as they get older. What are they?
A: Hobby or hobbies
As people grow older, many find it becomes harder and harder to fight off frowns and bad moods. Now, researchers from University College London suggest the secret to happiness during old age may be as simple as avoiding stagnation. Their study finds that having a hobby has an association with fewer depressive symptoms and higher levels of happiness, self-reported health, and life satisfaction among people 65 and older.
Importantly, this finding remained consistent among older adults across 16 countries on three continents. The study authors initially set out to investigate if any potential benefits tied to hobbies were consistent in different national settings. To accomplish this, they utilized a dataset encompassing 93,263 people over 65 who participated in five longitudinal studies conducted in the United States, Japan, China, the United Kingdom, and 12 other European countries.
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