Social Relationships and Mortality

Authors

Timothy Smith, Brigham Young University - ProvoFollow
Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Brigham Young UniversityFollow

Keywords

Mental Health, Social Relationships, Physical Health, premature death, longevity

Abstract

Social relationships benefit not only mental health but also physical health. This review addresses the following questions: (1) What is the overall magnitude of the effect of social relationships on risk for premature death? (2) How generalized is the effect and are there factors known to influence this association? (3) What are the likely pathways by which social relationships influence longevity? The article concludes by discussing the implications of these findings for potential interventions aimed at reducing risk for mortality.

Original Publication Citation

"Holt-Lunstad, J., & Smith, T. B. (2012). Social relationships and mortality. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 6(1), 41–53, 10.1111/j.1751-9004.2011.00406.x"

BYU ScholarsArchive Citation

Smith, Timothy and Holt-Lunstad, Julianne, "Social Relationships and Mortality" (2012). Faculty Publications. 7517.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/7517

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2012

Publisher

Blackwell Publishing

Language

English

College

David O. McKay School of Education

Department

Counseling Psychology and Special Education

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

Copyright Status

© 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Copyright Use Information

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/