The results highlight that there is an association between long-term depressive symptoms and the emergence of MetS, especially in men.

BackgroundPoor mental health, especially due to depression, is one of the main public health problems. Early indicators of poor mental health in general population are needed. This study examined the relationship between long-term life dissatisfaction and subsequent mental health, including major depressive disorder.MethodHealth questionnaires were sent to a randomly selected population-based sample in 1998 and repeated in 1999 and 2001. In 2005, a clinically studied sub-sample (n = 330) was composed of subjects with (n = 161) or without (n = 169) repeatedly reported adverse mental symptoms at all three previous data collection times. Clinical symptom assessments were performed with several psychometric scales: life satisfaction (LS), depression (HDRS, BDI), hopelessness (HS), mental distress (GHQ), dissociative experiences (DES), and alexithymia (TAS). The long-term life dissatisfaction burden was calculated by summing these life satisfaction scores in 1998, 1999, 2001 and dividing the sum into tertiles. Psychiatric diagnoses were confirmed by SCID-I for DSM-IV in 2005. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the studied relationship.ResultsThe previous life dissatisfaction burden associated with adverse socio-demographic, life style and clinical factors. In adjusted logistic regression analyses, it was independently and strongly associated with subsequent major depressive disorder in 2005, even when the concurrent LS score in 2005 was included in the model. Excluding those with reported major depressive disorder in 1999 did not alter this finding.LimitationsMDD in 1999 was based on self-reports and not on structured interview and LS data in 2001-2005 was not available.ConclusionsThe life satisfaction burden is significantly related to major depressive disorder and poor mental health, both in cross-sectional and longitudinal settings.

Mental health was strongly related to life satisfaction throughout the follow-up, while most of the non-clinical factors were not. Alleviating depression and interpersonal sensitivity and supporting social networks should be focused on in psychiatric treatment in order to improve life satisfaction among depressive patients.

BackgroundMental health is interconnected with somatic health and can manifest itself in biological processes. Life dissatisfaction is an indicator of subjective well-being, but information on its biological correlates is scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate the biological correlates along with other health-related factors of long-term life dissatisfaction in a population-based sample.MethodsAs part of the Kuopio Depression Study, health questionnaires were sent to a randomly selected population-based sample in 1998, 1999, and 2001. In 2005, among a clinically studied sub-sample (n = 305), the 7-year long-term life dissatisfaction burden was assessed by summing life satisfaction scores from previous health questionnaires. Several sociodemographic, health, health behavior, and biological factors were investigated in respect to their associations to categorized (low and high) and continuous (linear regression) life satisfaction burden score (higher values indicating dissatisfaction).ResultsIn the final linear regression model long-term life dissatisfaction burden was significantly associated with poor social support (B = 0.138; p < 0.001), marital status (i.e. living alone) (B = 0.049; p = 0.019), current smoking (B = 0.087; p < 0.001), poor sleep (B = 0.052; p = 0.001), use of statins (B = −0.052; p = 0.002) and lower serum adiponectin level (B = −0.001; p = 0.039) whereas association of metabolic syndrome was marginally nonsignificant (B = 0.029; p = 0.055).ConclusionLong-term life dissatisfaction is associated with adverse health, health behavioral, and social factors, as well as with a decreased anti-inflammatory buffer capacity, all indicating close relationships between subjective well-being and somatic morbidity.

Mental health is closely interwoven with life satisfaction. Even if personality disorder and childhood adversities were significant correlates of life dissatisfaction, adverse concurrent mental symptoms and features and MDD were its strongest correlates.