Healthier and Happier? A 3-Year Longitudinal Investigation of the Prospective Associations and Concurrent Changes in Health and Experiential Well-Being

Abstract

Global well-being is positively correlated with health. Moreover, studies suggest that health and global well-being predict changes in one another across time. Fewer studies, however, have examined the extent to which health is associated with daily emotional experiences—especially longitudinally. The present study examined the longitudinal associations between health and both global and experiential well-being, assessed 4 times across 3 years. Moreover, we used advanced analyses—random-intercept cross-lag models—which address limitations of traditional cross-lag models. Results revealed health and well-being generally did not prospectively predict changes in one another across 1 year. In contrast, year-to-year changes in health were correlated with simultaneous changes in well-being—with effect sizes being largest for global well-being. These findings suggest that health and well-being change together in processes that unfold relatively quickly. Finally, using traditional cross-lag models, numerous potentially illusory prospective associations between health and well-being emerged, underscoring the importance of using appropriate longitudinal statistical models.