Research
Mixed
The physiological impact of social relationships varies by life stage, with social integration being most critical in adolescence and late adulthood, while social support/strain is more salient in midlife.
Tailor your social health strategy to your life stage. In adolescence and old age, focus on building and maintaining a broad social network (integration). In midlife, focus on the quality of your relationships, minimizing strain and maximizing support, as these factors become more predictive of physiological health.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
Physiological impacts of structural and functional dimensions of social relationships emerge uniquely in adolescence and midlife and persist into old age.
Why this rating
Longitudinal data across multiple life stages with objective biomarkers.
Source
Social relationships and physiological determinants of longevity across the human life span
Yang Claire Yang et al. · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2016
DOI 10.1073/pnas.1511085112
cohortCited 737×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Higher social integration is associated with lower risk of physiological dysregulation (inflammation, hypertension, obesity) in a dose-response manner across the life span, with effects emerging in adolescence and persisting into old age.Good
- Social strain (negative quality of relationships) is a significant predictor of worsening physiological outcomes (inflammation, obesity) in midlife and late adulthood, often more so than social support.Good
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