Social Relationships and Health
Adults who are socially active live longer and are healthier than their more isolated peers.
Social relationships are vital to maintaining good health. Conversely, social isolation creates health risks. Studies have shown that for patients with coronary artery disease, social isolation creates added risk of death. Recent evidence suggests a link between poor social ties and severe conditions such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension and cancer.
This essay from a Journal of Health and Social Behavior supplement reviews major findings in the study of social relationships and health. The authors discuss the behavioral, psychosocial and physiological aspects of health and their importance for social relationships; and explain how different types of social relationships (i.e., marriage, parenthood) encourage healthy behavior. Mindful that unstable relationships can be harmful, the authors consider “The Dark Side of Social Relationships” and discuss the cumulative effect of social experience—citing health studies conducted at different stages of development (i.e., parents and children; adolescents and peers). Other topics include: social relationships and mental health, the costs and benefits of social relationships, public policy, and possibilities for future research.
Key Findings:
- The effects of social experiences accumulate through life, so that health risks increase as someone has continual social difficulties.
- Policy-makers can use the educational system to reduce social isolation in America.
- Improving social ties is a cost-effective preventive medicine strategy.
Sociologists have established a connection between social relationships—their quantity and quality—and health. This essay reviews evidence supporting that connection and suggests how policy-makers can promote and protect the strength of social ties in America.
Executive Summary
- 1. Reflections on Fifty Years of Medical Sociology
- 2. Understanding Racial-Ethnic Disparities in Health
- 3. Social Conditions as Fundamental Causes of Health Inequalities
- 4. Stress and Health
- 5. Social Relationships and Health
- 6. The Social Construction of Illness
- 7. Examining Critical Health Policy Issues Within and Beyond the Clinical Encounter
- 8. The Continued Social Transformation of the Medical Profession
- 9. Medical Sociology and Health Services Research
- 10. Medical Sociology and Technology
- 11. Bioethics, Raw and Cooked
- 12. Sociology of Health Care Reform
Recommended
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Related
- Help Us Find Solutions for Social Isolation October 19, 2017
- Innovations from Abroad Are Keeping Seniors Socially Connected April 13, 2017
- Social Relationships and Depression April 30, 2013
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