Arthur Stone, Professor and Vice Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook and colleagues at Columbia, Princeton, and Gallup have produced a detailed analysis of how Americans perceive well-being at various ages. They found that after age 50, life perceptions are more positive and feelings of worry or stress decline. This perception is consistent after age 50, regardless of certain life circumstances.

Titled  "A snapshot of the age distribution of psychological well-being in the US," the study is based on a 2008 Gallup-Healthways telephone survey of more than 340,000 adults in the United States. The research findings confirm earlier reports that between the ages of 18 and 50, perceptions of global well-being tend to decline with age, while after age 50, perceptions become more positive as people grow older, creating a U-shaped curve when ratings are plotted by age.

According to the researchers, the reasons for this pattern remain unknown. The analyses performed by Dr. Stone and colleagues indicate that changes in perception of well-being are not associated with having a partner, having children at home, or employment status.

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