Gratitude enhances health, brings happiness - and may even lengthen lives

Several evenings a week, as Tyler VanderWeele gathers around the dinner table with his wife and two young kids, the family deliberately pauses during the meal to do something simple but profound.

每周有几个晚上，当泰勒·范德威勒 (Tyler VanderWeele) 与妻子和两个年幼的孩子围坐在餐桌旁时，一家人会在用餐期间故意停下来做一些简单但意义深远的事情。

Each member shares several things for which they're grateful - an act that VanderWeele, co-director of the Initiative on Health, Spirituality, and Religion at the Harvard T.H.

每个成员都会分享一些他们感激的事情——哈佛 T.H. 健康、灵性和宗教倡议联合主任范德威勒 (VanderWeele) 的举动。

Chan School of Public Health, feels changes his family dynamic for the better.

公共卫生学院的陈先生感觉他的家庭动态变得更好了。

"I do think it makes a difference and can be a very powerful practice," he says.

“我确实认为这会有所作为，并且可能是一种非常有效的做法，”他说。

"Even on those bad days where life seems difficult, that effort is worthwhile."

“即使在那些生活看起来很困难的糟糕日子里，这种努力也是值得的。”

How can the power of gratitude affect our lives?

感恩的力量如何影响我们的生活？

Recent research has pointed to gratitude's myriad positive health effects, including greater emotional and social well-being , better sleep quality , lower depression risks , and favorable markers of cardiovascular health .

最近的研究指出，感恩对健康有无数积极的影响，包括改善情绪和社交福祉、更好的睡眠质量、降低抑郁风险以及心血管健康的有利标志。

Now, new data from the long-term Nurses' Health Study shows that it may extend lives.

现在，长期护士健康研究的新数据表明，它可以延长生命。

"Gratitude has been one of the most widely studied activities contributing to well-being, but we couldn't find a single prior study that looked at its effects on mortality and longevity, much to our surprise," says VanderWeele, co-author of the new research.

这项新研究的合著者范德威勒说：“感恩一直是研究最广泛的有助于幸福的活动之一，但我们之前找不到任何一项研究来考察它对死亡率和寿命的影响，这让我们非常惊讶。”

Published July 2024 in JAMA Psychiatry , the new study drew on data from 49,275 women enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study.

这项新研究于 2024 年 7 月发表在《美国医学会杂志精神病学》上，它借鉴了参加护士健康研究的 49,275 名女性的数据。

Their average age was 79.

他们的平均年龄是79岁。

In 2016, participants completed a six-item gratitude questionnaire in which they ranked their agreement with statements such as, "I have so much in life to be thankful for," and "If I had to list everything I felt grateful for, it would be a very long list."

2016年，参与者完成了一份包含六项感激之情的调查问卷，其中他们对诸如“我一生中有很多值得感激的事情”和“如果我必须列出我感到感激的一切，那将是一个很长的清单”等陈述进行了排名。

Four years later, researchers combed through participants' medical records to determine who had died.

四年后，研究人员梳理了参与者的医疗记录，以确定谁已经死亡。

There were 4,608 deaths from all causes, as well as from specific causes such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory diseases, neurodegenerative disease, infection, and injury.

共有 4,608 人死于各种原因，以及心血管疾病、癌症、呼吸系统疾病、神经退行性疾病、感染和损伤等特定原因。

Deaths from cardiovascular disease - a top killer of women and men in the United States - were the most common cause.

心血管疾病是美国女性和男性的头号杀手，其死亡是最常见的原因。

Participants with gratitude scores in the highest third at the study's start had a 9% lower risk of dying over the following four years than participants who scored in the bottom third.

在研究开始时感恩得分排名最高三分之一的参与者在接下来的四年里的死亡风险比得分排名倒数三分之一的参与者低 9%。

This did not change after controlling for physical health, economic circumstances, and other aspects of mental health and well-being.

在控制了身体健康、经济状况以及心理健康和福祉的其他方面后，这一点并没有改变。

Gratitude seemed to help protect participants from every cause of death studied - including cardiovascular disease.

感恩似乎有助于保护参与者免受所研究的各种死因的影响，包括心血管疾病。

"A 9% reduction in mortality risk is meaningful, but not huge," VanderWeele says.

“死亡风险降低 9% 是有意义的，但幅度并不大，”VanderWeele 说。

"But what's remarkable about gratitude is that just about anyone can practice it.

“但感恩的非凡之处在于，几乎任何人都可以实践它。

Anyone can recognize what's around them and express thanks to others for what's good in their life."

任何人都可以认出周围的事物，并对他人生活中的美好事物表示感谢。”

While the study couldn't pinpoint why gratitude is associated with longer life, VanderWeele believes several factors may contribute.

虽然这项研究无法确定为什么感恩与长寿有关，但范德威勒认为有几个因素可能起作用。

"We know that gratitude makes people feel happier.

“我们知道感恩会让人们感到更快乐。

That in itself has a small effect on mortality risk," he says.

这本身对死亡风险影响很小，”他说。

"Practicing gratitude may also make someone a bit more motivated to take care of their health.

“表达感激之情也可能会让人们更有动力去照顾自己的健康。

Maybe they're more likely to show up for medical appointments or exercise.

也许他们更有可能去参加医疗预约或锻炼。

It may also help with relationships and social support, which we know contribute to health."

它还可能有助于人际关系和社会支持，我们知道这有助于健康。”

The study was observational.

该研究是观察性的。

This means it can't prove that gratitude helps people live longer - only that an association exists.

这意味着它不能证明感恩可以帮助人们活得更久——只能证明存在一种关联。

And the particular sample of people analyzed is both the biggest strength and limitation of the research, VanderWeele says.

范德威勒说，所分析的特定人群样本既是这项研究的最大优势，也是其局限性。

All were older female nurses with high socioeconomic status.

所有人都是社会经济地位较高的老年女护士。

The vast majority were white.

绝大多数是白人。

"Does the longevity effect extend to men, to those who are younger, and to those with lower socioeconomic resources?" VanderWeele asks.

“长寿效应是否也适用于男性、年轻人和社会经济资源较低的人？”范德威勒问道。

"Those are all open questions."

“这些都是悬而未决的问题。”

On the plus side, he says, the study sample's large size is one of its biggest strengths.

他说，从积极的一面来看，研究样本规模大是其最大的优势之一。

So is the extensive data gathered on potential confounding factors such as participants' physical health, social characteristics, and other aspects of psychological well-being.

收集的关于参与者的身体健康、社会特征和心理健康其他方面等潜在混杂因素的大量数据也是如此。

"Between the quality of the data and the size of the sample, we were able to provide reasonable evidence for this modest longevity effect," he says.

“在数据质量和样本规模之间，我们能够为这种适度的长寿效应提供合理的证据，”他说。

Not feeling especially grateful today?

今天没有感到特别感激吗？

You have the power to change that.

你有能力改变这一点。

Asking yourself certain questions can evoke gratitude, such as

问自己某些问题可以唤起感激之情，例如

Similarly, a few simple actions can infuse gratitude into your days.

同样，一些简单的行动可以让你的生活充满感激之情。

Try VanderWeele's family routine of regularly expressing gratitude around the dinner table.

尝试范德威勒的家庭惯例，定期在餐桌上表达感激之情。

Another well-known practice - that's perhaps becoming forgotten in this digital age - is penning thank-you notes .

另一种众所周知的做法——在这个数字时代可能会被遗忘——是写感谢信。

"I do think writing a thank-you note or gratitude letter gets your mind to dwell on something positive for a longer period, to think more deeply about it, because you have to put it not just in words, but in writing," VanderWeele says.

“我确实认为写一封感谢信或感谢信可以让你的思想更长时间地思考一些积极的事情，更深入地思考它，因为你不仅必须用语言表达，而且要以书面形式表达出来，”范德韦勒说。

"It also deepens the relationship and builds that bond."

“它还加深了关系并建立了这种纽带。”

One less-recognized but valuable gratitude practice is called a "savoring exercise," which builds on aspects of mindfulness.

一种不太被认可但有价值的感恩练习被称为“品味练习”，它建立在正念的各个方面。

All that's required is "pausing, looking around you, and taking in and enjoying everything that's good in your current setting," VanderWeele says.

范德威勒说，所需要的只是“停下来，环顾四周，吸收并享受当前环境中一切美好的事物”。

"It's not a big leap to go from recognizing the good to expressing gratitude for what you have."

“从认识到美好到对你所拥有的表示感激，这并不是一个很大的飞跃。”

Maureen Salamon , Executive Editor, Harvard Women's Health Watch

Maureen Salamon，哈佛女性健康观察执行编辑

Howard E.

霍华德·E。

LeWine, MD , Chief Medical Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

LeWine，医学博士，哈佛健康出版社首席医学编辑；哈佛健康出版社编辑顾问委员会成员

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作为为读者提供的一项服务，哈佛健康出版社提供对我们存档内容库的访问。

Please note the date of last review or update on all articles.

请注意所有文章的最后审查或更新日期。

No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.

本网站上的任何内容，无论日期如何，都不应替代您的医生或其他合格临床医生的直接医疗建议。

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