Anxiety, depression and life satisfaction after midlife. A twin study across 20 years.

Background. Life satisfaction is negatively associated with mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. There is limited knowledge about long term relations, and about the nature of the associations. The aim of this... [ view full abstract ]

Background. Life satisfaction is negatively associated with mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. There is limited knowledge about long term relations, and about the nature of the associations. The aim of this study was to a) examine to what extent mental health problems around midlife predict level of life satisfaction twenty years later, b) what role the personality trait of neuroticism plays in associations, and c) how environmental and genetic factors contribute to relationships.

Methods. The Norwegian Twin Registry provided data for the study (n=1987). Twins born 1945-1960 participated in surveys around age 40 (time1) and age 60 (time2). Measures include subscales of the Symptom Check List (i.e. anxiety, depression) and Neuroticism from the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, at time 1, and Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) at time 2. Data were analyzed with multiple regression and biometric twin modelling including multivariate Cholesky models.

Results.  Mean score on the SWLS at time 2 was 5.4 (sd=1.2; range 1-7), indicating a relatively high level of life satisfaction. Depression, but not anxiety, at time 1 predicted life satisfaction scores 20 years later (β = -0.35), and the effect was partly, but not fully, accounted for by neuroticism. Biometric modelling showed that genetic factors played a major role in the associations between depression, neuroticism and later life satisfaction. However, most of the variance in life satisfaction was unrelated to previous symptoms and neuroticism, and was environmental rather than genetic in origin.