VOA慢速英语:What Is the Relationship Between Age and Happiness?

Are people less happy or more happy the older they get? If you answered more happy, then you were right, based on a study published two years ago. It found that people generally become happier and experience less worry after age fifty. In fact, it found that by the age of eighty-five, people are happier with their life than they were at eighteen.
人们在变老的同时，他们是更不幸福还是更幸福？如果你的回答是更幸福，那么基于两年前发表的一项研究结果，你的回答是正确的。该研究发现，人们年过五十岁后一般会变得更加幸福，担心的事情也会减少。实际上，研究人员发现，人们到85岁时比18岁时的生活更幸福。

The findings came from a Gallup survey of more than three hundred forty thousand adults in the United States in two thousand eight. At that time, the people were between the ages of eighteen and eighty-five.
该研究结果来自2008年Gallup对美国34万多名成年人的调查。当时，这些参与调查者年龄在18岁到85岁之间。

Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-five. Stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties.
在纽约州立大学石溪分校精神病学和行为科学系的Arthur Stone负责该研究。他的研究小组发现，成年人中22到25岁年龄段人群压力最大，人们50岁后压力会骤减。

Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their early seventies. But the people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their seventies and eighties.
刚成年和70岁左右的人们的幸福度最高。但最不可能报告负面情绪的是七、八十岁的人群。

The survey also found that men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men did.
该调查还发现，随着年龄增长，男性和女性有着类似的情感模式。然而，在所有年龄段中，女性比男性报告了更多的悲伤、压力和忧虑。

The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children, being unemployed or being single. But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age.
研究人员还考虑到了类似有了孩子、失业或单身等可能产生的影响因素。但他们发现，这类因素不会影响到和年龄相关的幸福水平。

So why would happiness increase with age? One theory is that, as people get older, they become more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.
那么，为什么幸福度会随着年龄增长呢？有一种理论认为，随着人们变老，人们对目前所拥有的一切更加知足，也能更好地控制自己的情绪。他们还更少去回想那些不愉快的经历。

The findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
该研究结果刊登在《美国国家科学院》上。

Happiness is not the only thing that apparently improves with age. In a study published this year, people in their eighties reported the fewest problems with the quality of their sleep.
幸福感不是唯一随着年龄显著增长的东西。今年发表的一项研究称，80多岁的人报告的睡眠质量问题最少。

Researchers surveyed more than one hundred fifty thousand American adults. The study, led by Michael Grandner at the University of Pennsylvania, appeared in the journal Sleep.
研究人员调查了超过150万美国成年人。该研究由宾夕法尼亚大学的Michael Grandner负责，发表在《睡眠》杂志上。

The original goal was to confirm the popular belief that aging is connected with increased sleep problems. The survey did find an increase during middle age, especially in women. But except for that, people reported that they felt their sleep quality improved as they got older.
该研究最初的目的是为了确认普遍认为睡眠问题会随着年龄而增多的观点。调查发现，确实在中年人尤其是中年妇女中发现睡眠问题随年龄而增加。但是除此之外，人们认为随着年龄增加，他们感觉睡眠质量得到改善。