How We Sleep, How We Move, How Long We Expect to Live: An Integrative Review of Lifestyle Behaviors and Subjective Life Expectancy.

Sleep architecture and circadian stability represent key biological mechanisms linking sleep quality to aging trajectories.

• Sleep quality is identified as one of the strongest behavioral determinants of healthy aging.
• Circadian stability, metabolic regulation, inflammatory balance, and autonomic function are identified as key biological pathways.
• Literature from January 2015 to December 2025 was synthesized across PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science.
• Studies addressing sleep quality, circadian rhythms, and aging-related outcomes were included in the integrative review.

Physical activity contributes to healthy aging through improvements in mitochondrial efficiency, VO2max, muscle metabolism, and anti-inflammatory signaling.

• Physical activity is identified as one of the strongest behavioral determinants of healthy aging alongside sleep quality.
• IL-6 is specifically identified as a myokine involved in the anti-inflammatory signaling pathway of physical activity.
• PA contributions operate through mitochondrial efficiency, VO2max, and muscle metabolism mechanisms.
• PA was assessed within the integrative framework of exercise physiology and behavioral medicine literature.

Both sleep and physical activity strongly influence psychological health, health perception, and future-oriented expectations within a broader lifestyle context.

• Nutritional status and dietary quality were identified as supporting factors within the broader lifestyle context.
• Psychological health and health perception are identified as intermediary outcomes linking sleep and PA to longevity expectations.
• Dietary behavior and psychological factors are described as 'complementary modulators' of sleep and physical activity relationships.
• The combined influence of sleep quality and physical activity on subjective life expectancy was described as 'largely unexplored' prior to this review.

Subjective life expectancy emerges as a central psychological mediator that shapes motivation, adherence to health behaviors, and long-term health outcomes.

• Subjective life expectancy (SLE) is defined as 'an individual's perceived likelihood of living to an advanced age.'
• SLE is positioned as a 'key psychological link between lifestyle behaviors and longevity' in the proposed integrative model.
• SLE influences motivation and adherence to health behaviors, creating feedback loops within the lifestyle system.
• The proposed integrative model is described as 'hypothesis-generating' and requires empirical validation through future studies.

Contextual moderators including age, gender, socioeconomic status, cultural norms, and wearable technology engagement further influence the relationships between lifestyle behaviors and subjective life expectancy.

• Five contextual moderator categories are identified: age, gender, socioeconomic status, cultural norms, and wearable technology engagement.
• Wearable technology engagement is included as a novel moderator alongside more traditional demographic and social factors.
• These moderators are described as further influencing the relationships within the integrative behavioral-biological-psychological system.
• The review draws on evidence from sleep science, exercise physiology, behavioral medicine, and psychological aging disciplines.

The authors propose an integrative model positioning subjective life expectancy at the center of a dynamic system linking sleep quality, physical activity, dietary behavior, and psychological well-being to longevity.

• The framework requires 'empirical validation through future longitudinal and interventional studies.'
• The model calls for 'multidomain research integrating behavioral, biological, nutritional and psychological indicators of aging.'
• Sleep quality and physical activity are described as 'the core behavioral components' of the proposed dynamic system.
• Dietary behavior and psychological well-being are positioned as additional shaping forces within the model rather than core components.