Emotional Vitality, Flourishing, and Healthy Lifestyles in Young Adults: A Longitudinal Study

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Abstract
Psychosocial well-being relates to lower cardiovascular risk, and a healthy lifestyle may contribute to this association. Prior research has focused on aging adults, although health behaviors are usually consolidated in early adulthood. This longitudinal study assessed the association between two psychosocial well-being indicators and subsequent healthy lifestyles in young adults. Participants (n = 799; agemean = 30.6 years) in the Nicotine Dependence in Teens Study completed items to derive the emotional vitality score, a flourishing scale, and covariates in 2017-2020. Data on selected outcomes (i.e., smoking, sleep, physical activity, alcohol intake, diet quality), collected in 2017-2020 and 2020-2021, were combined into a lifestyle score used categorically (≥ 4 healthy behaviors) and continuously (0-5 scores). Associations between psychosocial well-being indicators and lifestyle up to 4 years later were modeled using logistic and linear regressions. In model 3 adjusting for sociodemographic, health-related, and depression covariates, higher likelihood of a healthy lifestyle (≥ 4 healthy behaviors) was observed with flourishing (OR = 1.56, 95%CI = 1.02-2.40), but the CI for emotional vitality included the null (OR = 1.62, 95%CI = 0.93-2.81). Both well-being indicators were similarly associated with continuous lifestyle scores (e.g., model 3, per 1-SD unit: βflourishing = 0.13, 95%CI = 0.06-0.21; βemotional vitality = 0.10, 95%CI = 0.02-0.17). Further controlling for baseline lifestyle attenuated associations (model 4; βflourishing = 0.10, 95%CI = 0.03-0.18; βemotional vitality = 0.06, 95%CI = -0.02 to 0.14). When assessing behaviors separately, both well-being indicators were associated with healthy diets and sleep only. Flourishing and emotional vitality may promote healthy behaviors among young adults and be considered in prevention strategies aiming to foster healthy lifestyles in this age group.

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