Cultivate Friends for Healthy Aging

 

Researcher, clinical psychologist, aging authority, and professor Claudia Trudel-Fitzgerald is an expert on social integration and aging as it impacts health outcomes and longevity. In her recent online seminar for the International Federation on Aging, she illuminated the intersection of social networks on healthy aging examining data from the longitudinal Nurses’ Health Study [NHS]. Begun in 1976, the NHS has helped researchers comprehend health and well-being by examining over four decades of feedback from their comprehensive questionnaires and test results. Researchers have found that mental and physical health impact longevity and healthy aging, especially strong emotional supports.

Social networks and social supports can provide both emotional and informational support. In old age, cultivating a strong network of friends offsets loneliness, but they must be maintained, nourished, and strengthened over time. Friendship is different from having numerous contacts and associates, as socially active people may still be lonely. As Dr. Trudel-Fitzgerald stated, “Loneliness is a feeling.” Being alone and loneliness are not synonymous. It is possible to be lonely in a room filled with people.

In another longitudinal aging study, principal investigator of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, Dr. George Valant, found that relationships had a profound impact on health outcomes (Mineo, 2017). More than cholesterol levels at middle age, IQ, genes, or social class, friendships were predictors of a long and happy life. Director of the study, Dr. Robert Waldinger stated, “Loneliness kills…. It is as powerful as smoking or alcoholism” (Mineo, 2017, p. 3). Vallant noted that early in the study, empathy and attachment were nonfactors, but later in the study, relationships emerged as the primary predictor for longer and happier lives.

Dr. Trudel-Fitzgerald and her colleagues found similarities between the Harvard Study and the Nurses’ Study. Women who were highly socially integrated lived approximately ten years longer than isolated older women (2020). Dr. Waldinger suggests paying more attention to developing and nurturing friendships. “It’s easy to get isolated, caught up in work and not remembering…I pay more attention to my relationships than I used to” (Mineo, 2017).

Resources:

Mineo, Liz (2017 April 11). Good genes are nice, but joy is better. Harvard Gazette. Retrieved from https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/04/over-nearly-80-years-harvard-study-has-been-showing-how-to-live-a-healthy-and-happy-life/

 

Nurses’ Health Study: https://nurseshealthstudy.org

 

Trudel-Fitzgerald, C., Zevon, E. S., Kawachi, I., Tucker-Seeley, R. D., Grodstein, F., & Kubzansky, L. D. (2020). The Prospective Association of Social Integration with Life Span and Exceptional Longevity in Women. The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences, 75(10), 2132–2141. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbz116

PDF Document: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7664314/pdf/gbz116.pdf

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