Having a cheerful temperament is linked to a lower risk of developing coronary artery disease among people with a family history of the disease, according to a study published in the American Journal of Cardiology.
For the study, researchers collected information on general well-being and cardiovascular risk factors from 1,483 healthy siblings of people who developed heart disease before the age of 60. The siblings were divided into low-, intermediate-, and high-risk groups based on their score on a test that measures an individual's risk of developing heart disease in the next 10 years. A well-being test measured mood, level of concern about health, levels of relaxation and anxiety, energy level, and life satisfaction.
During the follow-up, which lasted an average of 12 years, there were 208 coronary events, including heart attacks, sudden cardiac death, acute coronary syndrome, and need for surgery. People with higher baseline scores in general well-being had a 33% lower risk of developing symptomatic heart disease, independent of their risk factors for the disease. People in the group at highest risk for developing CAD had a 50% reduction in risk if they had high baseline well-being scores.
When researchers examined the effect of positive well-being on CAD risk in the general population, they found a 13% reduction in risk among those with greater positive well-being. That last finding is consistent with other research on temperament and heart disease risk. What was new here is that there had been no studies on the effect of positive well-being on heart disease risk in healthy but high-risk populations after controlling for other risk factors.