Mental Health
Suffering linked to poor well-being one year later
Amy Roeder
July 23, 2026
People who experience suffering may be at risk for poor well-being across multiple areas of life a year later, according to a recent study led by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard’s Human Flourishing Project
The study, published June 10 in Communications Medicine, used two waves of longitudinal data from the Global Flourishing Study to look at how more than 207,000 adults across 23 countries and territories experience everyday distress
The researchers found that people who were experiencing suffering during the first wave of data collection in 2023 reported worse outcomes one year later, including lower life satisfaction, worse self-rated physical health, higher levels of loneliness, and less financial security
Suffering is distinct from other experiences such as physical pain or depression, although these experiences often overlap, first author Richard Cowden, research scientist in the Department of Epidemiology, said in a July 11 PsyPost article. “Our study suggests that suffering may have broad implications for well-being across many areas of life, which is why it deserves attention as a distinct human experience in research, practice, and public health.”
Read the Communications Medicine study: Longitudinal associations of suffering with subsequent multidimensional well-being in the Global Flourishing Study
Read the PsyPost article: Harvard scientists tracked 200,000 people to see how one common form of distress alters the future
About The Author
Amy Roeder
Senior Editor, Harvard Chan Magazine; Senior Writer in the Office of Communications
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Richard Cowden
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