Empirical research regarding the health benefits of positive psychological well-being (e.g., positive emotions, life satisfaction, purpose in life, and optimism) has flourished in recent years, particularly with regard to cardiovascular disease. This paper reviews the state of evidence for well-being's association with cardiovascular disease in both healthy individuals and those diagnosed with a disease. Prospective studies consistently indicate well-being reduces cardiovascular events in healthy and, to a lesser extent, patient populations. Potential pathways that link well-being with cardiovascular disease are discussed (including health behaviors, physiological processes, and stress buffering), although the existing evidence is mostly cross-sectional which limits conclusions about directionality. Issues related to development across the lifespan are considered and childhood is identified as a crucial period for establishing healthy cardiovascular trajectories. Outstanding questions for future research are provided with recommendations to focus on well-powered and prospective study designs with rigorous assessment of both well-being and cardiovascular-related outcomes.

中文翻译：

---

积极的心理健康和心血管疾病：探索机制和发展途径

近年来，关于积极心理健康（如积极情绪、生活满意度、生活目标和乐观）对健康益处的实证研究蓬勃发展，特别是在心血管疾病方面。本文回顾了健康个体和被诊断患有疾病的人的幸福感与心血管疾病相关的证据状态。前瞻性研究一致表明，健康可以减少健康人群的心血管事件，并且在较小程度上减少患者人群的心血管事件。讨论了将幸福感与心血管疾病联系起来的潜在途径（包括健康行为、生理过程和压力缓冲），尽管现有证据大多是横断面的，这限制了关于方向性的结论。考虑到与整个生命周期的发展有关的问题，并且儿童期被确定为建立健康心血管轨迹的关键时期。为未来研究提出的未决问题提供了建议，以专注于强有力的前瞻性研究设计，并对健康和心血管相关结果进行严格评估。