Social relationships and health a flashpoint for health policy
Open accessAbstract
Social relationships--both quantity and quality--affect mental health, health behavior, physical health, and mortality risk. Sociologists have played a central role in establishing the link between social relationships and health outcomes, identifying explanations for this link, and discovering social variation (e.g., by gender and race) at the population level. Studies show that social relationships have short- and long-term effects on health, for better and for worse, and that these effects emerge in childhood and cascade throughout life to foster cumulative advantage or disadvantage in health. This article describes key research themes in the study of social relationships and health, and it highlights policy implications suggested by this research.
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The pathway between loneliness and anxiety and depression involves psychological, biological, and social factors.
“The pathway between loneliness and anxiety and depression involves psychological, biological, and social factors [77, 78].”
From The prospective association of adolescent loneliness and low resilience with anxiety and depression in young adulthood: The HUNT study (2025) · cites this paper as [78]
The Psychosocial and Physiological Explanations sections describe social, psychological, and physiological mechanisms linking social ties to health. But Future Research says the causal mechanisms linking social isolation to poor health remain poorly understood; the paper does not establish this three-part pathway specifically between loneliness and anxiety or depression. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.83)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredHaving a range of good social connections is associated with lower mortality rates, better health outcomes, higher reported wellbeing and quality of life.
“Having a range of good social connections has been identified as an important aspect of successful ageing [12] and is associated with lower mortality rates [13, 14], better health outcomes [15, 16], and higher reported wellbeing [17, 18] and quality of life [19, 20].”
From Social isolation, cognitive reserve, and cognition in healthy older people (2018) · cites this paper as [16]
The number and quality of social relationships have substantial impacts on health, well-being, and longevity, and, at least in animals, on reproductive fitness.
“There is growing evidence that the number and quality of social relationships have substantial impacts on health, well-being, and longevity, and, at least in animals, on reproductive fitness.”
From Variation in the β-endorphin, oxytocin, and dopamine receptor genes is associated with different dimensions of human sociality (2017) · cites this paper as [3]
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Social Capital and Psychological Distress
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Living Alone in Later Life: A Global Perspective
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Parenting and Child Development: A Relational Health Perspective
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Sensing the "Health State" of a Community
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Preventing social isolation in older people
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Death of family members as an overlooked source of racial disadvantage in the United States
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Adolescent Loneliness and Health in Early Adulthood
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Social Isolation and Mortality in US Black and White Men and Women
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A prospective study of social isolation, loneliness, and mortality in Finland
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Gender, health behavior, and intimate relationships: Lesbian, gay, and straight contexts
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Social Stratification and Inequality
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Social relationships and mortality
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Gender and Social Isolation across the Life Course
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Self-citationRelationship between adverse childhood experiences and unemployment among adults from five US states
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Trajectories of Social Engagement and Limitations in Late Life
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Black Deaths Matter: Race, Relationship Loss, and Effects on Survivors
Umberson, D. (2017) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.1177/0022146517739317 · Cited by 154 · see citing works
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Advantages of public green spaces in enhancing population health
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What is good grief support? Exploring the actors and actions in social support after traumatic grief
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What role does health literacy play in patients' involvement in medical decision-making?
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Promoting Older Adults’ Physical Activity and Social Well-Being during COVID-19
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Social Relations, Social Integration, and Social Support
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Challenges and Opportunities for Research on Same‐Sex Relationships
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Quality of Life for Transition-Age Youth with Autism or Intellectual Disability
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Social contact frequency and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis and meta-regression
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Living alone and cognitive function in later life
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Perceived social support in African American breast cancer patients: Predictors and effects
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Psychosocial Benefits of Cooking Interventions: A Systematic Review
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The physical–digital divide: Exploring the social gap between digital natives and physical natives
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The Biology of Physiological Health
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Variety Is the Spice of Late Life: Social Integration and Daily Activity
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- Authors
- Umberson, D., & Karas Montez, J.
- Affiliations
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- University of Texas at Austin
- ORCID
- Umberson, Debra
- Venue
- Journal of Health and Social Behavior
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2010-03
- Volume
- 51
- Issue
- 1_suppl
- Pages
- S54-S66
- ISSN
- 0022-1465 (ISSN-L)
- 2150-6000
- PMC
- PMC3150158
- OpenAlex
- W2128149221
- Cited by
- 2,639
- References
- 78
- Citations by year
- 2026: 233 · 2025: 268 · 2024: 257 · 2023: 229 · 2022: 247 · 2021: 263 · 2020: 238 · 2019: 176 · 2018: 161 · 2017: 133 · 2016: 116 · 2015: 121 · 2014: 87 · 2013: 57 · 2012: 28
- FWCI
- 34.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Health and Social Behavior (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (R01AG026613)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R24HD042849, T32HD007081)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
- Keywords
- interpersonal relationships, health, social determinants of health, mental health, health behavior, mortality risk, gender differences, racial disparities, health policy
- MeSH terms
- Female, Health Policy, Health Status, Humans, Male, Social Adjustment, Social Environment, Social Support, Sociology, Medical, Stress, Psychological, Racial Groups
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