Seven types of evidence are reviewed that indicate that high subjective wellbeing (such as life satisfaction, absence of negative emotions, optimism, and positive emotions) causes better health and longevity For example, prospective longitudinal studies of normal populations provide evidence that various types of subjective well-being such as positive affect predict health and longevity, controlling for health and socioeconomic status at baseline Combined with experimental human and animal research, as well as naturalistic studies of changes of subjective well-being and physiological processes over time, the case that subjective well-being influences health and longevity in healthy populations is compelling However, the claim that subjective well-being lengthens the lives of those with certain diseases such as cancer remains controversial Positive feelings predict longevity and health beyond negative feelings However, intensely aroused or manic positive affect may be detrimental to health Issues such as causality, effect size, types of subjective well-being, and statistical controls are discussed

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Happy People Live Longer: Subjective Well‐Being Contributes to Health and Longevity

Purpose To examine the impact of marital status on stage at diagnosis, use of definitive therapy, and cancer-specific mortality among each of the 10 leading causes of cancer-related death in the United States. Methods We used the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results program to identify 1,260,898 patients diagnosed in 2004 through 2008 with lung, colorectal, breast, pancreatic, prostate, liver/intrahepatic bile duct, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, head/neck, ovarian, or esophageal cancer. We used multivariable logistic and Cox regression to analyze the 734,889 patients who had clinical and follow-up information available. Results Married patients were less likely to present with metastatic disease (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.83; 95% CI, 0.82 to 0.84; P .001), more likely to receive definitive therapy (adjusted OR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.51 to 1.56; P .001), and less likely to die as a result of their cancer after adjusting for demographics, stage, and treatment (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.79 to 0.81; P .001) than unmarried patients. These associations remained significant when each individual cancer was analyzed (P .05 for all end points for each malignancy). The benefit associated with marriage was greater in males than females for all outcome measures analyzed (P .001 in all cases). For prostate, breast, colorectal, esophageal, and head/neck cancers, the survival benefit associated with marriage was larger than the published survival benefit of chemotherapy. Conclusion Even after adjusting for known confounders, unmarried patients are at significantly higher risk of presentation with metastatic cancer, undertreatment, and death resulting from their cancer. This study highlights the potentially significant impact that social support can have on cancer detection, treatment, and survival.

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Marital Status and Survival in Patients With Cancer

Anxiety disorders and comorbid medical illness

BACKGROUND. The question of whether stress poses a risk for cancer progression has been difficult to answer. A randomized clinical trial tested the hypothesis that cancer patients coping with their recent diagnosis but receiving a psychologic intervention would have improved survival compared with patients who were only assessed. METHODS. A total of 227 patients who were surgically treated for regional breast cancer participated. Before beginning adjuvant cancer therapies, patients were assessed with psychologic and behavioral measures and had a health evaluation, and a 60-mL blood sample was drawn. Patients were randomized to Psychologic Intervention plus assessment or Assessment only study arms. The intervention was psychologist led; conducted in small groups; and included strategies to reduce stress, improve mood, alter health behaviors, and maintain adherence to cancer treatment and care. Earlier articles demonstrated that, compared with the Assessment arm, the Intervention arm improved across all of the latter secondary outcomes. Immunity was also enhanced.

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Psychologic Intervention Improves Survival for Breast Cancer Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Purpose Numerous studies have examined the comorbidity of depression with cancer, and some have indicated that depression may be associated with cancer progression or survival. However, few studies have assessed whether changes in depression symptoms are associated with survival. Methods In a secondary analysis of a randomized trial of supportive-expressive group therapy, 125 women with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) completed a depression symptom measure (Center for Epidemiologic Studies–Depression Scale [CES-D]) at baseline and were randomly assigned to a treatment group or to a control group that received educational materials. At baseline and three follow-up points, 101 of 125 women completed a depression symptom measure. We used these data in a Cox proportional hazards analysis to examine whether decreasing depression symptoms over the first year of the study (the length of the intervention) would be associated with longer survival.

Decrease in Depression Symptoms Is Associated With Longer Survival in Patients With Metastatic Breast Cancer: A Secondary Analysis

BACKGROUND.
This study was designed to replicate our earlier finding that intensive group therapy extended survival time of women with metastatic breast cancer. Subsequent findings concerning the question of whether such psychosocial support affects survival have been mixed.

METHODS.
One hundred twenty-five women with confirmed metastatic (n = 122) or locally recurrent (n = 3) breast cancer were randomly assigned either to the supportive-expressive group therapy condition (n = 64), where they received educational materials plus weekly supportive-expressive group therapy, or to the control condition (n = 61), where they received only educational materials for a minimum of 1 year. The treatment, 90 minutes once a week, was designed to build new bonds of social support, encourage expression of emotion, deal with fears of dying and death, help restructure life priorities, improve communication with family members and healthcare professionals, and enhance control of pain and anxiety.

RESULTS.
Overall mortality after 14 years was 86%; median survival time was 32.8 months. No overall statistically significant effect of treatment on survival was found for treatment (median, 30.7 months) compared with control (median, 33.3 months) patients, but there was a statistically significant intervention site-by-condition interaction. Exploratory moderator analysis to explain that interaction revealed a significant overall interaction between estrogen-receptor (ER) status and treatment condition (P = .002) such that among the 25 ER-negative participants, those randomized to treatment survived longer (median, 29.8 months) than ER-negative controls (median, 9.3 months), whereas the ER-positive participants showed no treatment effect.

CONCLUSIONS.
The earlier finding that longer survival was associated with supportive-expressive group therapy was not replicated. Although it is possible that psychosocial effects on survival are relevant to a small subsample of women who are more refractory to current hormonal treatments, further research is required to investigate subgroup differences. Cancer 2007. © 2007 American Cancer Society.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/cncr.22890

Elaine Miller

Papers

Effects of supportive‐expressive group therapy on survival of patients with metastatic breast cancer