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Individuals’ quality of life linked to major life events, perceived social support, and personality traits

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between major recent life events that occurred during the last 5 years, social and personal resources, and subjective quality of life (QoL).

Methods

A total of 1801 participants from the general population (CoLaus/PsyCoLaus study) completed the Life Events Questionnaire, the Social Support Questionnaire, the NEO Five-Factor Inventory Revised, and the Manchester Short Assessment of Quality of Life.

Results

Major life events were modestly associated with the QoL (about 5 % of the explained variance). However, QoL was significantly related to perceived social support and personality traits (about 37 % of the explained variance). Particularly, perceived social support, extraversion and conscientiousness personality dimensions were positively linked to life satisfaction, whereas a high level of neuroticism was negatively associated with QoL.

Conclusion

This study highlights the negative but temporary association between critical events and QoL. However, a combination of high conscientiousness and extraversion, and positive social support may explain better variances for a high-perceived QoL.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Lausanne inhabitants who volunteered to participate in the PsyCoLaus study and to the collaborators who contributed to the coordination of the study and the collection of data. We would also like to thank all the investigators of the CoLaus study, who made the psychiatric study possible, as well as many GlaxoSmithKline employees who contributed to the execution of this study.

Funding

The PsyCoLaus study was and is supported by research grants from GlaxoSmithKline, the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of Lausanne, and the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grants 3200B0–105993, 3200B0-118308, 33CSCO-122661, 33CS30-139468, and 33CS30-148401).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Géopolis, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Cornelia Pocnet, Jean-Philippe Antonietti & Jérôme Rossier

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Psychiatric Epidemiology and Psychopathology Research Center, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Marie-Pierre F. Strippoli & Martin Preisig

  3. Genetic Epidemiology Research Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Jennifer Glaus

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  1. Cornelia Pocnet
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Correspondence to Cornelia Pocnet.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Pocnet, C., Antonietti, JP., Strippoli, MP.F. et al. Individuals’ quality of life linked to major life events, perceived social support, and personality traits. Qual Life Res 25, 2897–2908 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-016-1296-4

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