Negative Emotions and Chronic Physical Illness: A Lifespan Developmental Perspective

• Published in: Health psychology 2019-11, Vol.38 (11), p.949-959
• Main Authors: Kunzmann, Ute, Schilling, Oliver, Wrosch, Carsten, Siebert, Jelena S, Katzorreck, Martin, Wahl, Hans-Werner, Gerstorf, Denis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Age; Aging; Chronic Disease - psychology; Chronic Illness; Chronic illnesses; Depression (Emotion); Emotions; Emotions - physiology; Female; Health status; Human; Humans; Life Span; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Middle age; Negative Emotions; Older people; Physical Health; Severity; Severity (Disorders)
• ISSN: 0278-6133; 1930-7810
• DOI: 10.1037/hea0000767

Objective: Our primary goal was to test the idea that the link between negative emotions and chronic physical illness will become stronger as individuals age and their resources become increasingly limited. Method: The data came from a 4-wave longitudinal study obtained from a sample of middle-aged (n = 500, mean age = 44.17, SD = .91) and older (n = 502, mean age = 62.87, SD = .89) adults who were observed for, on average, 13.59 years (SD = 7.32). Negative emotions were assessed by a subscale of the Zung depression scale and chronic illness severity was operationalized as a physician-rating. Results: Among older adults the association between changes in negative emotions and changes in physical illness status emerged over time (first retest interval: r = .02; p = .42; second interval: r = .11; p = .01; third interval: r = .22; p < .01), whereas such dynamics were not observed among middle-aged adults (first retest interval: r = .01; p = .77; second interval: r = .06; p = .12; third interval: r = −.01; p = .79). In addition, among older adults, negative emotions were generally higher and illness severity worse than in middle-aged adults. Negative emotions and chronic physical illness increased over time only in the older subsample. Conclusion: Research interested in linking negative emotions and poor physical health will benefit from a lifespan developmental perspective.