Frequently seeing friends and family may cut the risk of early death

Spending time with loved ones may reduce the risk of an early death, while never being visited by friends of family can raise the risk even for people who don’t live alone. The finding suggests that some social connections have a greater impact on health than others.

Previous research has linked social isolation to poorer health. Yet, little is known about how different social connections influence longevity.

So, Hamish Foster at the University of Glasgow, UK, and his colleagues collected data on socialisation and loneliness from more than 450,000 people between 38 and 73 years old living in the UK. About 55 per cent of them were women and almost 96 per cent were white.

Between 2006 and 2010, all the participants completed a one-time physical health assessment and questionnaire measuring five different types of social connection. The questionnaire asked how often they felt lonely, could confide in someone close, had friends or family visit and participated in weekly group activities. It also asked if they lived alone. The researchers then tracked the participants to find out how many had died by 2021.

After adjusting for factors including age, sex, physical activity level, socioeconomic status and chronic health conditions, the researchers found that all five types of social connection impacted longevity. The frequency of visits from friends and family had the greatest influence. On average, people whose friends or family never visited had a 39 per cent increased risk of dying during the study period compared with those whose loved ones visited daily. Even those who didn’t live alone had a 25 per cent greater risk of death in this time if friends or family never visited. Participation in weekly group activities didn’t mitigate these effects, either.

The findings could be due to relationship quality. “Some relationships can be negative,” says Foster. “So, you could live with one other person, but the relationship quality is poor.” Regular visits from loved ones may be crucial in this scenario.

The team also found that the risk of dying during the period was about the same for those whose loved ones visited monthly, weekly or daily. “Just having monthly visits seems to be enough,” says Foster.