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posted by janrinok on Monday August 22 2016, @06:17PM   Printer-friendly
from the marriage-is-good-for-you! dept.

For older adults, having more or closer family members in one's social network decreases his or her likelihood of death, but having a larger or closer group of friends does not, finds a new study that will be presented at the 111th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA).

"We found that older individuals who had more family in their network, as well as older people who were closer with their family were less likely to die," said James Iveniuk, the lead author of the study and a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health. "No such associations were observed for number of or closeness to friends."

[...] In the first wave, these older adults were asked to list up to five of their closest confidants, describe in detail the nature of each relationship, and indicate how close they felt to each person. Excluding spouses, the average number of close confidants named was 2.91, and most older adults perceived high levels of support from their social contacts. Additionally, most respondents were married, in good physical health, and reported not being very lonely.

Iveniuk and co-author L. Philip Schumm, a senior biostatistician at the University of Chicago, found that older adults who reported feeling "extremely close" on average to the non-spousal family members they listed as among their closest confidants had about a six percent risk of mortality within the next five years, compared to approximately a 14 percent risk of mortality among those who reported feeling "not very close" to the family members they listed.

Furthermore, the study found that respondents who listed more non-spousal family members in their network—irrespective of closeness—had lower odds of death compared to those who listed fewer family members. "Regardless of the emotional content of a connection, simply having a social relationship with another person may have benefits for longevity," Iveniuk said.

Iveniuk said he was surprised that feeling closer to one's family members and having more relatives as confidants decreased the risk of death for older adults, but that the same was not true of relationships with friends.


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  • (Score: 1) by Francis on Monday August 22 2016, @08:27PM

    by Francis (5544) on Monday August 22 2016, @08:27PM (#391868)

    It is and the better questions are about how to maximize the time we have and to get to the end in the best possible shape.

    I don't see any reason to live to be 150 if the last 100 years of that is sitting in bed all day with a nurse changing the bed pan and me drooling all over the place. Having a good quality 60 years would be vastly superior.

  • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday August 22 2016, @08:34PM

    Right there with ya. Which is exactly why I smoke, drink, eat what I like, and otherwise enjoy myself while I'm still able to. With any luck, I'll have a nicely timed heart attack and not ever have to have someone else wiping my wrinkly old ass.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 2) by jelizondo on Monday August 22 2016, @10:45PM

      by jelizondo (653) Subscriber Badge on Monday August 22 2016, @10:45PM (#391908) Journal

      I agree with you, having watched many relatives (grandparents, great aunts, etc.) live eighty- or ninety-something years, spending the last 10 or so unable to take care of themselves I have no great desire to get that old... My dear mother passed away a couple of years ago, at eighty-something, at the last 4 o 5 years she was basically in bed all the time, unable to move unless assisted, but sound of mind... Such a torture, for her and everyone else.

      About the same time, I had to consult a cardiologist. First thing he says, stop smoking, reduce the drinking, exercise, take care of yourself... I'm about five months older than the doc, of course, he doesn't smoke, drink or party, but he looks ready to drop dead any minute and I can party all night... Take care of myself? to look like you doc? Shit! If you saw the two of us, you would think the doc is my father or at least my older brother...

      So yeah, here's to drinking, smoking and having a good time, to hell with a long life!

    • (Score: 1) by Francis on Tuesday August 23 2016, @02:25AM

      by Francis (5544) on Tuesday August 23 2016, @02:25AM (#391968)

      For now, I've got more interest in taking care of my body so that it lasts as long as possible. However, I do think that once I retire, I'll probably start indulging a lot more in the things that I'm personally interested in.

      I think there's something to be said for hitting 70 or 80 and then just taking advantage of that stage of life to do all sorts of unhealthy things. I think that 70 relatively good years is more than what most people get. I rarely get sick these days and I don't obsess about stupid things like sanitizing the entire environment around me.