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      Social Support and Longevity: Meta-Analysis-Based Evidence and Psychobiological Mechanisms

      review-article
      *
      Frontiers in Psychology
      Frontiers Media S.A.
      social support, social relationships, health, longevity, meta-analysis, stress, stress-buffering

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          Abstract

          Over the past 60 years, evidence has accumulated on the fundamental role of supportive social relationships in individual health and longevity. This paper first summarizes the results of 23 meta-analyses published between 1994 and 2021, which include 1,187 longitudinal and cross-sectional studies with more than 1,458 million participants. The effect sizes reported in these meta-analyses are highly consistent with regard to the predicted link between social support and reduced disease and mortality; the meta-analyses also highlight various theoretical and methodological issues concerning the multi-dimensionality of the social support concept and its measurements, and the need to control potential confounding and moderator variables. This is followed by an analysis of the experimental evidence from laboratory studies on psychobiological mechanisms that may explain the effect of social support on health and longevity. The stress-buffering hypothesis is examined and extended to incorporate recent findings on the inhibitory effect of social support figures (e.g., the face of loved ones) on fear learning and defensive reactions alongside evidence on the effect of social support on brain networks that down-regulate the autonomic nervous system, HPA axis, and immune system. Finally, the paper discusses the findings in the context of three emerging research areas that are helping to advance and consolidate the relevance of social factors for human health and longevity: (a) convergent evidence on the effects of social support and adversity in other social mammals, (b) longitudinal studies on the impact of social support and adversity across each stage of the human lifespan, and (c) studies that extend the social support framework from individual to community and societal levels, drawing implications for large-scale intervention policies to promote the culture of social support.

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          Stress, Appraisal, and Coping

          <p><b>The reissue of a classic work, now with a foreword by Daniel Goleman!</b><p>Here is a monumental work that continues in the tradition pioneered by co-author Richard Lazarus in his classic book <i>Psychological Stress and the Coping Process</i>. Dr. Lazarus and his collaborator, Dr. Susan Folkman, present here a detailed theory of psychological stress, building on the concepts of cognitive appraisal and coping which have become major themes of theory and investigation.</p> <p>As an integrative theoretical analysis, this volume pulls together two decades of research and thought on issues in behavioral medicine, emotion, stress management, treatment, and life span development. A selective review of the most pertinent literature is included in each chapter. The total reference listing for the book extends to 60 pages.</p> <p>This work is necessarily multidisciplinary, reflecting the many dimensions of stress-related problems and their situation within a complex social context. While the emphasis is on psychological aspects of stress, the book is oriented towards professionals in various disciplines, as well as advanced students and educated laypersons. The intended audience ranges from psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, nurses, and social workers to sociologists, anthropologists, medical researchers, and physiologists.</p>
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            Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for mortality: a meta-analytic review.

            Actual and perceived social isolation are both associated with increased risk for early mortality. In this meta-analytic review, our objective is to establish the overall and relative magnitude of social isolation and loneliness and to examine possible moderators. We conducted a literature search of studies (January 1980 to February 2014) using MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Social Work Abstracts, and Google Scholar. The included studies provided quantitative data on mortality as affected by loneliness, social isolation, or living alone. Across studies in which several possible confounds were statistically controlled for, the weighted average effect sizes were as follows: social isolation odds ratio (OR) = 1.29, loneliness OR = 1.26, and living alone OR = 1.32, corresponding to an average of 29%, 26%, and 32% increased likelihood of mortality, respectively. We found no differences between measures of objective and subjective social isolation. Results remain consistent across gender, length of follow-up, and world region, but initial health status has an influence on the findings. Results also differ across participant age, with social deficits being more predictive of death in samples with an average age younger than 65 years. Overall, the influence of both objective and subjective social isolation on risk for mortality is comparable with well-established risk factors for mortality.
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              A theory of human motivation.

              A. MASLOW (1943)
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                Front Psychol
                Front Psychol
                Front. Psychol.
                Frontiers in Psychology
                Frontiers Media S.A.
                1664-1078
                13 September 2021
                2021
                : 12
                : 717164
                Affiliations
                Human Psychophysiology and Health Laboratory, Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada , Granada, Spain
                Author notes

                Edited by: Oscar Ribeiro, University of Aveiro, Portugal

                Reviewed by: Constança Paúl, University of Porto, Portugal; Marta Osório Matos, University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE), Portugal

                *Correspondence: Jaime Vila jvila@ 123456ugr.es

                This article was submitted to Health Psychology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology

                Article
                10.3389/fpsyg.2021.717164
                8473615
                34589025
                77c20eb2-c9e0-4dfe-a7af-f69e07b53e07
                Copyright © 2021 Vila.

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

                History
                : 30 May 2021
                : 17 August 2021
                Page count
                Figures: 0, Tables: 3, Equations: 0, References: 114, Pages: 17, Words: 13735
                Categories
                Psychology
                Review

                Clinical Psychology & Psychiatry
                social support,social relationships,health,longevity,meta-analysis,stress,stress-buffering

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