We’ve heard that we should choose our friends wisely, but now there’s some scientific evidence that it can help our health.
In a new study, published recently in Social Psychological and Personality Science and quoted by Study Findsa team revealed that people with positive experiences in their intimate relationships seem to have better physical health.
Previous research has focused on how conflict or relationship satisfaction can affect our stress levels and blood pressure. In this recent study, researchers looked at how different types of relationships, good and bad, affect our health in everyday life.
“Positive and negative experiences in our relationships contribute to our daily stress, to the way we act and to our physiology, in terms of blood pressure and heart rate reactivity,” said Brian Don of the University of Auckland, lead author of the study.
“Also, it’s not just how we feel about our relationships in general that matters: the ups and downs are important too,” he continued.
For the study, 4,005 people completed daily tests on data such as blood pressure and stress and shared their experiences and feelings about their closest relationships, including positive and negative memories.
People with more positive than negative experiences reported less stress, better ability to manage their actions and lower blood pressure. People who experienced daily ups and downs in their relationships and reported more negative experiences had more problems with stress and high blood pressure.
Other factors may have altered people’s relationships and, in turn, their health, added Brian Don. The covid-19 pandemic has affected the way people interact and how often friends and loved ones come.
“Since the covid-19 pandemic, relations have faced challenges, turmoil and unprecedented changes. It means that the pandemic could have health implications, not just because of the virus, but also indirectly as a result of the impact it has on relationships.”
“The covid-19 pandemic has created considerable tension, turmoil and variability in relationships, which can indirectly alter stress and physiology in daily life and which have important implications for physical well-being”, he stressed.
The study authors caution against jumping to conclusions that friends can make us sick. Instead, the findings show how relationships can be a further influence on our health.
“It would be helpful examine other physiological statessuch as neuroendocrine or sympathetic nervous system responses as a result of daily experiences of positive and negative relationships, which can reveal different patterns of associations,” concludes Brian Don.
ZAP // 
