VOALearningEnglish2012.6.26---What Is the Relationship Between Age and Happiness?

VOALearningEnglish2012.6.26---What Is the Relationship Between Age and Happiness?

What Is the Relationship Between Age and Happiness?
This is the VOA Special English Health Report, from http://voaspecialenglish.com | http://facebook.com/voalearningenglish
Are people less happy or more happy the older they get? If you answered more happy, then you were right, based on a study published two years ago. It found that people generally become happier and experience less worry after age fifty. In fact, it found that by the age of eighty-five, people are happier with their life than they were at eighteen. The findings came from a Gallup survey of more than three hundred forty thousand adults in the United States in two thousand eight. At that time, the people were between the ages of eighteen and eighty-five. Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-five. Stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties. Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their early seventies. But the people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their seventies and eighties. The survey also found that men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men did. The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children, being unemployed or being single. But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age. So why would happiness increase with age? One theory is that, as people get older, they become more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences. The findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Happiness is not the only thing that apparently improves with age. In a study published this year, people in their eighties reported the fewest problems with the quality of their sleep. Researchers surveyed more than one hundred fifty thousand American adults. The study, led by Michael Grandner at the University of Pennsylvania, appeared in the journal Sleep. The original goal was to confirm the popular belief that aging is connected with increased sleep problems. The survey did find an increase during middle age, especially in women. But except for that, people reported that they felt their sleep quality improved as they got older. For VOA Special English, I'm Alex Villarreal. (Adapted from a radio program broadcast 28May2012)

年齡和幸福之間的關係是什麼？
這是美國之音特別英語衛生報告“，從http://voaspecialenglish.com | http://facebook.com/voalearningenglish
人們不開心或老年人，他們得到更快樂？如果你的回答更快樂，那麼你是正確的，兩年前發表的一項研究的基礎上。研究發現，一般人更快樂和體驗後不到五十歲的擔心。事實上，它發現，八十五歲，人與他們的生活是幸福的，比他們在十八。來自蓋洛普調查的超過三百四萬二千八百美國成年人的調查結果。當時，人們之間的年齡十八和八十五個。阿瑟·斯通在紐約州立大學石溪分校的精神病學和行為科學部的研究。他的研究小組發現，應力水平最高的二十二個和二十五個歲之間的成年人。應力水平急劇下降後，人們達到他們五十年代。幸福是其中最年輕的成年人和七十年代初的最高。但至少可能報告感到負面情緒的人是在七十年代和八十年代的。調查還發現，男性和女性都有類似的情感模式，因為他們長大。然而，在所有年齡的婦女更多的悲傷，比男性的壓力和憂慮。研究人員還考慮可能產生的影響，像有年幼子女，失業或單身。但他們發現，這些影響不影響幸福水平和福祉與年齡有關。那麼，為什麼會快樂隨著年齡的增長呢？有一種理論認為，隨著人們變老，他們變得更加感謝他們有什麼更好地控制自己的情緒。想到不好的經驗，他們還花費更少的時間。研究結果刊登在國家科學院的論文集。幸福是不是唯一的東西，顯然隨著年齡的提高。在今年發表的一項研究報告在八十年代的人，他們的睡眠質量問題最少。研究人員調查了超過一百五十萬名美國成年人。這項研究中，賓夕法尼亞大學的由邁克爾格蘭德納領導，出現在雜誌的睡眠。最初的目標是確認普遍認為，老齡化是連接增加睡眠問題。調查發現，尤其是在中年婦女的增加。但是，人們除了報告，他們認為他們的睡眠質量得到改善，因為他們老了。美國之音特別英語，我亞歷克斯比利亞雷亞爾。 （改編自一個電台節目中播出28May2012）