New Study: Family Contributions to Your Longevity; Friends - Not So Much

A study presented last Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association reveals: Close family members are much more important to health than close friends.

Researchers asked 3,000 volunteers aged 57 to 85 to list the names of five people closest to them – excluding spouses – and to describe the nature of their closeness. Most study participants were healthy, married individuals who appeared quite happy and reported not feeling particularly lonely.

The researchers followed up with the participants and discovered that those with more family members in their close social network were at a lower risk of dying. Close friends, however, did not increase life expectancy.

Dr. James Iveniuk, a researcher from the University of Toronto who conducted the study along with his colleague Dr. Philip Schumer from the University of Chicago, says they were surprised by the results. "Since friends, unlike family, can be chosen, we expected that relationships with friends would be more significant for life expectancy, as you can tailor your friends to your specific needs," he explains. "But this hypothesis is not supported by the data we uncovered. It's precisely the people we cannot choose, and who cannot choose us, who provide the greatest advantage for longevity."

The study found that people who said they felt 'very close' to their family had a 6% risk of dying in the next five years – a significantly lower risk than the 14% for those who said they did not feel close to their family.

Why is closeness to family so significant? The researchers hypothesized that family members have more authority to intervene in the health matters of a relative, and that a family relationship is likely more rewarding in some respects. Additionally, they noted, "Compared to friends, receiving support from family is not dependent on the emotional content of the relationship. Some family members may be stressful or burdensome, but they will still receive support from their family."