IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v26y2025i6d10.1007_s10902-025-00929-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Flourishing Mental Health Improve Perceived Quality of Life?

Author

Listed:
  • Eunsoo Timothy Kim

    (ChildFund International)

  • Bo-Hyeong Jane Lee

    (Duke University)

  • Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell

    (Duke University)

Abstract

Flourishing mental health and quality of life (QoL) are related but distinct positive indicators of wellbeing. This study examined the relationship between flourishing mental health and QoL, specifically by using longitudinal data to determine the directionality of this relationship. Using three waves of data across six years from the Clergy Health Initiative Longitudinal Study (CHILS), we conducted the Random Intercept Cross-lagged Panel Model (RI-CLPM) approach to identify which of these variables may be best conceptualized as a mediator versus an outcome. Our analyses reveal that flourishing mental health had a significant effect on future QoL, while QoL was not significantly associated with future flourishing mental health. These findings indicate that flourishing mental health may be an upstream factor influencing QoL. We expect findings from this study to be relevant not only to policymakers and researchers of positive psychology, but also applicable to other helping professions that are demanding, care giving, and service-oriented in nature.

Suggested Citation

  • Eunsoo Timothy Kim & Bo-Hyeong Jane Lee & Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell, 2025. "Does Flourishing Mental Health Improve Perceived Quality of Life?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 26(6), pages 1-13, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:26:y:2025:i:6:d:10.1007_s10902-025-00929-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-025-00929-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-025-00929-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-025-00929-w?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kalayanee Senasu & Arnond Sakworawich & Darlene F. Russ-Eft, 2019. "Developing Thai Happiness Index," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 146(3), pages 425-448, December.
    2. Silvia Garrido & Ildefonso Méndez & José-María Abellán, 2013. "Analysing the Simultaneous Relationship Between Life Satisfaction and Health-Related Quality of Life," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(6), pages 1813-1838, December.
    3. Keyes, C.L.M. & Simoes, E.J., 2012. "To flourish or not: Positive mental health and all-cause mortality," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(11), pages 2164-2172.
    4. Peter Greenspoon & Donald Saklofske, 2001. "Toward an Integration of Subjective Well-Being and Psychopathology," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 81-108, April.
    5. Keyes, C.L.M. & Dhingra, S.S. & Simoes, E.J., 2010. "Change in level of positive mental health as a predictor of future risk of mental Illness," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(12), pages 2366-2371.
    6. Richard Andrew Burns & Dimity Ann Crisp & Jiayun Chng & Kristen Murray, 2022. "Community Members Prioritise Indicators of Both Mental Health and Wellbeing to Define Flourishing and Quality of Life: Towards The Total Psychological Health Framework," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(6), pages 3475-3502, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jennifer S. Mascaro & Amanda Wallace & Brooke Hyman & Carla Haack & Cherie C. Hill & Miranda A. Moore & Maha B. Lund & Eric J. Nehl & Sharon H. Bergquist & Steve W. Cole, 2022. "Flourishing in Healthcare Trainees: Psychological Well-Being and the Conserved Transcriptional Response to Adversity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-18, February.
    2. Nathaniel W. Anderson & Anna J. Markowitz & Daniel Eisenberg & Neal Halfon & Kristin Anderson Moore & Frederick J. Zimmerman, 2022. "The Child and Adolescent Thriving Index 1.0: Developing a Measure of the Outcome Indicators of Well-Being for Population Health Assessment," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 15(6), pages 2015-2042, December.
    3. Pooja Garg & Renu Rastogi & Aakanksha Kataria, 2013. "Promoting Citizenship Behaviors in Workplace: The Relevance of Organizational Justice and Psychological Well-being of Employees," Jindal Journal of Business Research, , vol. 2(2), pages 67-84, December.
    4. Fabiana Monteiro & Marco Pereira & Maria Cristina Canavarro & Ana Fonseca, 2020. "Be a Mom ’s Efficacy in Enhancing Positive Mental Health among Postpartum Women Presenting Low Risk for Postpartum Depression: Results from a Pilot Randomized Trial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-19, June.
    5. Tyler Renshaw & Alex Cohen, 2014. "Life Satisfaction as a Distinguishing Indicator of College Student Functioning: Further Validation of the Two-Continua Model of Mental Health," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 117(1), pages 319-334, May.
    6. Ernesta Sofija & Neil Harris & Bernadette Sebar & Dung Phung, 2021. "Who Are the Flourishing Emerging Adults on the Urban East Coast of Australia?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-16, January.
    7. Buyisani Dube & Bolatumi Oyegoke & Duduzile Nkomo, 2024. "Mental Health of Emerging Private Primary School Teachers: An Exploratory Case Study in Gaborone, Botswana," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(1), pages 2200-2210, January.
    8. Zi Jia Ng & Eugene Scott Huebner & Alberto Maydeu-Olivares & Kimberly Joy Hills, 2018. "Confirmatory Factor Analytic Structure and Measurement Invariance of the Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS) in a Longitudinal Sample of Adolescents," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(4), pages 1237-1247, August.
    9. Yanling Geng & Longtao He, 2022. "Gender Differences in Children’s Psychological Well-Being in Mainland China: Risk and Protective Factors," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(5), pages 2743-2763, October.
    10. T. Gregory & E. Dal Grande & M. Brushe & D. Engelhardt & S. Luddy & M. Guhn & A. Gadermann & K.A. Schonert-Reichl & S. Brinkman, 2021. "Associations between School Readiness and Student Wellbeing: A Six-Year Follow Up Study," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(1), pages 369-390, February.
    11. Thomas Albers & Silvia Ariccio & Laura A. Weiss & Federica Dessi & Marino Bonaiuto, 2021. "The Role of Place Attachment in Promoting Refugees’ Well-Being and Resettlement: A Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-11, October.
    12. Vanesa C. Góngora & Alejandro Castro Solano, 2017. "Pathological Personality Traits (DSM-5), Risk Factors, and Mental Health," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(3), pages 21582440177, August.
    13. Sabatini, Fabio, 2014. "The relationship between happiness and health: Evidence from Italy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 178-187.
    14. Uğur Çalişkan & Dogan Gursoy & Özgür Özer & Oscar Hengxuan Chi, 2022. "Effects of Tourism on Local Residents’ Quality of Life, Happiness and Life Satisfaction: Moderating Role of the COVID-19 Risk Perceptions," Journal of Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, Cinturs - Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, University of Algarve, vol. 10(4), pages 274-291.
    15. Xin, Sufei & Peng, Haiyun & Sheng, Liang, 2022. "Changes of social anxiety in Chinese adolescents during 2002 ∼ 2020: An increasing trend and its relationship with social change," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    16. Alcides Moreno Fortes & Lili Tian & E. Scott Huebner, 2020. "Occupational Stress and Employees Complete Mental Health: A Cross-Cultural Empirical Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-18, May.
    17. Mushonga, Dawnsha R. & Henneberger, Angela K., 2024. "The Black-White paradox of mental health in college students," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    18. Chen, Ying & Kubzansky, Laura D. & VanderWeele, Tyler J., 2019. "Parental warmth and flourishing in mid-life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 65-72.
    19. Block, Eryn Piper & Wong, Mitchell David & Kataoka, Sheryl Harumi & Zimmerman, Frederick J., 2022. "A symphony within: Frequent participation in performing arts predicts higher positive mental health in young adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    20. Jaime C. Semchuk & Shannon L. McCullough & Nancy A. Lever & Heather J. Gotham & Jessica E. Gonzalez & Sharon A. Hoover, 2022. "Educator-Informed Development of a Mental Health Literacy Course for School Staff: Classroom Well-Being Information and Strategies for Educators (Classroom WISE)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-15, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:26:y:2025:i:6:d:10.1007_s10902-025-00929-w. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.