Three Health Behaviors Positively Affect Mental Well-Being in Young Adults

Sleep quality was the strongest and most consistent predictor of next-day well-being

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Aug. 28, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Fruit and vegetable consumption, physical activity, and especially better sleep quality are associated with psychological well-being of young adults, according to a study published online Aug. 27 in PLOS One.

Jack R.H. Cooper, from the University of Otago in New Zealand, and colleagues investigated the relationships between three key health behaviors — sleep quality, physical activity, and dietary choices — and psychological well-being among young adults aged 17 to 25 years. The analysis included three datasets: a cross-sectional survey (1,032 individuals) and two daily diary datasets (818 and 236 individuals) of young adults living in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The researchers found that better sleep quality was the strongest predictor of well-being across all three datasets, followed by fruit and vegetable consumption. There were significant associations between these health behaviors and well-being both at the between-person and within-person levels. Physical activity was also a reliable predictor of well-being, especially at the within-person level. Similar patterns were confirmed with the use of device-measured physical activity. Pathways linking health behaviors to well-being were mostly additive, with the exception of a buffering pattern for the within-person level, suggesting that higher fruit and vegetable intake could potentially mitigate the negative impact of poor sleep on daily well-being.

“Young adults don’t have to reach some objective benchmark of healthiness to see well-being improvement,” Cooper said in a statement. “Sleeping a little better, eating a little healthier, or exercising even for 10 minutes longer than you normally do was associated with improvements to how you feel that day.”