Five new research networks totaling $3.13 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health will allow investigators to refine and test key concepts that advance the study of emotional well-being.
Emotional well-being has been defined as an overall positive state of one's emotions, life satisfaction, sense of meaning and purpose, and ability to pursue self-defined goals. The opportunity to research emotional well-being and its core components a sense of balance in emotion, thoughts, social relationships, and pursuits aligns with NIH's broader objectives of fostering health promotion and disease prevention. For example, having a sense of purpose in life has been shown to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.
These research networks, funded in part by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) and the National Institute on Aging (NIA), aim to advance the field by facilitating transdisciplinary research in the social, behavioral, psychological, biological, and neurobiological sciences. Additional co-funding for these networks comes from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), and the NIH Office of Disease Prevention (ODP).
'Understanding the science of emotional well-being and how we can apply its concepts to help people live and feel better will benefit our efforts to improve health and health care,' said Dr. Helene Langevin, NCCIH director. 'Sustained well-being benefits the whole person, helping individuals manage stress and anxiety over the long term.'
The establishment of these unique research networks is meant to encourage meetings, conferences, small-scale pilot research, multidisciplinary cross training, and information dissemination among leading scientists across disciplines and institutions.
'These networks will identify factors that influence emotional well-being over the life course and inform the design of interventions to promote emotional health and reduce suffering in at-risk populations of all ages,' said Dr. Lis Nielsen, director of the NIA Division of Social and Behavioral Research. 'This collaboration builds upon NIA's earlier investments in research on the measurement of subjective well-being and extends that work in exciting new directions.'
About the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
NCCIH's mission is to define, through rigorous scientific investigation, the usefulness and safety of complementary and integrative health approaches and their roles in improving health and health care. For additional information, call NCCIH's Clearinghouse toll free at 1-888-644-6226.
About the National Institute on Aging (NIA)
NIA leads the U.S. federal government effort to conduct and support research on aging and the health and well-being of older people. Learn more about age-related cognitive change and neurodegenerative diseases via NIA's Alzheimer's and related Dementias Education and Referral (ADEAR) Center website.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases.
Contact:
Tel: 301-496-7790
INTEGRATIVE HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES, INC. 
