Resources: Study on "Association between Cultural Activity and Perceived Health, Anxiety, Depression & Life Satisfaction"

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A team of researchers, led by Koenraad Cuypers, have conducted a study which analysed the association between cultural activity and perceived health, anxiety, depression and satisfaction with life in both genders.  The results have just been published by the British Medical Association’s Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health: “Patterns of receptive and creative cultural activities and their association with perceived health, anxiety, depression and satisfaction with life among adults: the HUNT study, Norway” (http://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2011/05/04/jech.2010.113571.short?q=w_jech_ahead_tab).

A group of 50,797 adults living in Norway's Nord-Trondelag County were asked detailed questions about their leisure habits and how they perceived their own state of health, satisfaction with life and levels of depression and anxiety.  Cultural activities were differentiated into "receptive " (in which the participant experienced a cultural activity that was done or performed by others) or "creative " (in which the participant was involved in making, doing, playing an instrument, performing...etc.).

The main findings of the study are as follows:

- Participation in receptive and creative cultural activities was significantly associated with good health, good satisfaction with life, low anxiety and depression scores in both genders.

- The beneficial effects were gender-dependent:

  • For men, attending receptive, rather than creative, cultural activities was more strongly associated with all health-related outcomes.
  • For women, there was a preference for doing rather than watching.

-  Wealth and education were not an issue, i.e. participants who engaged in cultural activities were more satisfied with their lives, regardless of their levels of wealth or education.

These results support hypotheses on the effect of cultural activities in health promotion and healthcare. However, according to the study’s abstract, further longitudinal and experimental studies are warranted to establish a reliable cause–effect relationship, i.e. whether people are healthier and happier because they engage in cultural activities, or whether they seek out cultural activities because they are feeling good.

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For further information, please contact Koenraad Cuypers, Nord-Trøndelag Health Study Research Center, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Skjesol Østre, Åsenfjord 7632, Norway: kjcuype@online.no