Three-quarters of Canadians appear to function well in their daily lives and have a positive outlook on life, according to the results of a Canadian Community Health Survey recently published by Statistics Canada. The survey also revealed that factors such as age, marital status and spirituality play a role in the sense of well-being.
During the survey, 76.9% of Canadians 15 and over in 2012 were identified as having "thriving mental health" (a positive outlook on life and functioning well in their daily lives) while only 1.5% were identified as having deteriorating mental health (low levels of emotional well-being and of positive functioning). 21.6% were identified as having moderately good mental health (neither thriving nor deteriorating).
To conduct this study, Statistics Canada used a short form questionnaire from the Continuum of mental health composed of 14 questions to evaluate the perceptions of emotional well-being (sense of happiness, satisfaction and an interest in life) and of positive functioning (self-acceptance, personal growth, life goals, good relationships with others).
Afterwards, the collected data was combined with the presence or absence of mental illness (depression, bipolar disorder, general anxiety disorder, abuse of or dependence on alcohol, marijuana or other drugs). The final result was that 72.5% of Canadians (19.8 million) have excellent mental health in the eyes Statistics Canada.
More positive with age
In addition to these primary results, the Canadian Community Health Survey also revealed several factors that could influence the probability of acquiring excellent mental health. Age appeared to be a determining factor as the percentage of people with excellent mental health tended to increase with age, from 65% in people age 15 to 24 to 80% in people age 65 and older.
Living together as a couple also influenced the probability of having excellent mental health. 77% of individuals living with a partner made up this category, while the percentage decreases to 72% for widowed, separated or divorced individuals and 64% for single people.
Similarly, other factors can influence the level of well-being and daily functioning such as income level, education level, degree of spirituality and the ability to get regular exercise.