We investigated the temporal relationship between lifestyle and mental health among 564 midlife women. The mental health measured included anxiety, depression, and mental well-being; the lifestyle measures included body mass index (BMI), exercise, smoking, alcohol use, and caffeine consumption. We found that BMI was positively related with mental well-being (r = .316, p = .009); smokers had lower mental well-being than nonsmokers (â = 6.725, p = .006), and noncaffeine drinkers had higher mental well-being (â = 5, p = .023). Past alcohol-drinkers had less anxiety than nondrinkers (â = 1.135, p = .04). Therefore, lifestyle is predictive of mental health among midlife and older women.
Aging Alcohol Drinking