Ângela Leite, Ana Ramires
Universidade Europeia, Lisboa, Portugal.
Andreia de Moura, Teresa Souto
Faculdade de Psicologia, Educação e Desporto, Universidade Lusófona do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
João Marôco
William James Center for Research, Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada – Instituto Universitário (ISPA-IU), Lisboa, Portugal.

Abstract:

Background: Increasing evidence supports an association between psychological well-being and overall health, however, much remains to be understood about this association. Objectives: The current study addresses this issue by presenting a new perspective focusing on health perceptions. Additionally, it examines the impact of each of six dimensions of psychological well-being on health perception. Methods: Data for this study were collected from a sample of 1,155 Portuguese adults in various settings. Results: Findings reveal that psychological well-being dimensions’ impact differently on prior, current, and health outlookperceptions. Furthermore, the dimension depressed mood influences current health perception; in turn, current health perception is the strongest predictor for psychological well-being. Discussion: Our results provide support for a bidirectional relationship between health perception and psychological well-being.

Keywords:Psychological well-being, health perception, prior health perception, current health perception, health outlook perception.