BACKGROUND:

An extensive body of research has demonstrated an association between negative affective states and health outcomes. Positive emotions may also influence physical health, however, their examination has received far less attention.

METHODS:

Positive and depressive emotion ratings were examined as independent and joint predictors of survival in a sample of 866 cardiac catheterization patients. The mean follow-up was 11.4 years, during which 415 deaths occurred. The mean age of the sample was 60.3 years and 74.3% of the sample were males.

RESULTS:

Both positive and depressive ratings were associated with survival (hazard ratio=0.80, 95% CI=0.66-0.97, p<0.025 and hazard ratio=1.32, 95% CI=1.13-1.54, p<0.001, respectively), adjusted for risk factors. Positive emotion ratings were no longer significantly related to mortality when the two emotion measures were simultaneously included in a survival model.

CONCLUSION:

The current findings are consistent with a theory that suggests that the relation between positive emotion and mortality may be partly mediated by depressive emotion.