More than family bonds, its friendship that can keep people have a long life.
More than family bonds, its friendship that can keep people have a long life.
An Australian research study have pointed out that the benefits of having friends do affect the health and emotional well being of people so much so that life expectancy can get significantly increased.The researchers had surveyed about 1500 people about their social contacts, in person or over the phone for about ten years in the age group of 70 years and above. Researchers had monitored factors that can influence survival rates through the social behavioral and environmental settings.
The results of the study have shown that those with the strongest network of friends and confidants tend to live longer than those who had less strong network of friends. Friends or peer groups not only influences lifestyles like smoking, drinking and leisure behaviors, they also act as a support in the late years when elderly people face changes in their lives like illness, disability, or death of a spouse. In these years they also act as support groups for providing company, influencing their emotional moods, self esteem and their coping patterns.
