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Time spent with friends in childhood is associated with physical health in adulthood， according to data from a multi-decade study of men. The findings， published in Psychological Science， a journal of the Association for Psychological Science， show that boys who spent more time with friends as children tended to have lower blood pressure and lower BMI1 as men in their early 30s.
“These findings suggest that our early social lives may have a small protective influence on our physical health in adulthood， and it’s not just our caregivers2 or financial circumstances， but also our friends who may be health protective，” says psychological scientist Jenny Cundiff of Texas Tech University.
The fact that the association was evident over a 16-year span and was not explained by several other potential factors gives Cundiff confidence in the results.
“Although this wasn’t an experiment， it was a well-controlled longitudinal3 study in a racially diverse sample—so it provides a strong clue that being socially integrated early in life is good for our health independent of4 a number of other factors such as personality， weight in childhood， and the family’s social status in childhood，” she explains.
In many previous studies， researchers have found an association between adults’ social well-being5—including their close relationships and sources of social support—and health-related outcomes including cardiovascular6 risk factors. Cundiff and coauthor Karen Matthews of the University of Pittsburgh wondered whether this association might be evident much earlier in life， in childhood and adolescence.
To find out， the researchers examined data from the Pittsburgh Youth Study， a longitudinal study following cohorts7 of boys who were initially recruited to participate as students in Pittsburgh public schools. Specifically， they examined data from 267 individuals in the youngest cohort， most of whom were Black （about 56%） or White （about 41%）.
The participants’ parents reported how much time their children spent with their friends during an average week， beginning when the boys were about 6 years old and continuing through age 16. The study also included data on various individual characteristics （e.g. extraversion8 and hostility in childhood; physical health in childhood and adulthood） and family and environmental factors （e.g.， socioeconomic status in childhood， social integration in adulthood）.
Analyses revealed that boys who spent more time with their friends in childhood and adolescence， as reported by their parents， had healthier blood pressure and body mass index at age 32. This association held even after Cundiff and Matthews accounted for other potential influences， including physical health in childhood and social integration in adulthood. Black participants and White participants showed a similar pattern of findings over time.
The study includes only one measure of social integration and does not include specific measures of physiological processes or cardiovascular function. Cundiff and Matthews note that expanding the scope of measures used in future research could help to illuminate the pathways that link early peer relationships with physical health decades later.
一项历时数十年的研究数据显示，男性在童年时和同伴相处的时长与成年后的身体健康有一定关联。该研究的研究结果发表在心理科学协会的《心理科学》杂志上，结果表明，童年期与同伴相处时间较长的男性，30出头时的血压和身体质量指数往往比同龄人更低。
得克萨斯理工大学心理科学家珍妮·坎迪夫说：“研究结果表明，早期的社交活动可能对成年期的身体健康有小小的保护作用。健康保护不仅来自照顾我们的人或是经济情况，还可能来自我们的同伴。”
上述关联在16年的时间跨度里表现明显，而其他几个潜在因素并未解释这一结果。这让坎迪夫对研究结论颇有信心。
她解释道：“尽管不是实验，但这是一项基于多种族样本、严格对照的纵向研究。因此它强有力地表明：早期融入社会有益于我们的健康，并且不受性格特征、童年期体重、童年期家庭社会地位等诸多其他因素的影响。”
在先前的多项研究中，研究者发现成年人社会幸福感和健康状况之间存在一定的关联。社会幸福感包括亲密关系、社会支持来源等，健康状况则包括心血管危险因素等。坎迪夫和研究报告合作作者——匹兹堡大学的卡伦·马修斯都想知道这一关联能否在较早期如童年期、青春期有明显呈现。
为了找到答案，他们分析了《匹兹堡青年研究》的数据，这是一项纵向追踪研究，最初招募的被试是几所匹兹堡公立学校的男学生。确切来说，他们分析了267位年龄最小的被试的数据，其中大部分是黑人（约56%）或白人（约41%）。
被试的家长提供孩子平均每周与同伴相处时长的数据，从孩子6岁左右开始，一直持续到16岁。研究还考虑到了个体的特征差异（例如，童年时的外向性和攻击性、童年期和成年期的身体健康）以及家庭和环境因素（例如，童年期的社会经济地位、成年期的社会融合）。
分析结果表明：根据父母的报告，在童年期和青春期与同伴相处时间更长的男孩在32岁时的血压和身体质量指数都更健康。即便在坎迪夫和马修斯解释了其他诸如童年期的身体健康和成年期的社会融合等潜在影响后，这一关联依然存在。
随着时间推移，黑人被试与白人被试在结果上表现出相似性。
这项研究衡量社会融合度时，仅用了一种标准，对生理过程或心血管机能没有具体的衡量标准。坎迪夫和马修斯指出，在未来的研究中使用更多衡量方式或有助于阐明早期同伴关系与数十年后身体健康之间的关系。
（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者）
1 BMI = Body Mass Index身体质量指数。 2 caregiver照顾孩子的家人，受雇照顾孩子的人。
3 longitudinal縱向的。 4 independent of独立于……。 5 social well-being社会幸福感。 6 cardiovascular心血管的。 7 cohort（从人口统计角度看）有共同点的一组人（如同年出生等）。
8 extraversion外向性。
“These findings suggest that our early social lives may have a small protective influence on our physical health in adulthood， and it’s not just our caregivers2 or financial circumstances， but also our friends who may be health protective，” says psychological scientist Jenny Cundiff of Texas Tech University.
The fact that the association was evident over a 16-year span and was not explained by several other potential factors gives Cundiff confidence in the results.
“Although this wasn’t an experiment， it was a well-controlled longitudinal3 study in a racially diverse sample—so it provides a strong clue that being socially integrated early in life is good for our health independent of4 a number of other factors such as personality， weight in childhood， and the family’s social status in childhood，” she explains.
In many previous studies， researchers have found an association between adults’ social well-being5—including their close relationships and sources of social support—and health-related outcomes including cardiovascular6 risk factors. Cundiff and coauthor Karen Matthews of the University of Pittsburgh wondered whether this association might be evident much earlier in life， in childhood and adolescence.
To find out， the researchers examined data from the Pittsburgh Youth Study， a longitudinal study following cohorts7 of boys who were initially recruited to participate as students in Pittsburgh public schools. Specifically， they examined data from 267 individuals in the youngest cohort， most of whom were Black （about 56%） or White （about 41%）.
The participants’ parents reported how much time their children spent with their friends during an average week， beginning when the boys were about 6 years old and continuing through age 16. The study also included data on various individual characteristics （e.g. extraversion8 and hostility in childhood; physical health in childhood and adulthood） and family and environmental factors （e.g.， socioeconomic status in childhood， social integration in adulthood）.
Analyses revealed that boys who spent more time with their friends in childhood and adolescence， as reported by their parents， had healthier blood pressure and body mass index at age 32. This association held even after Cundiff and Matthews accounted for other potential influences， including physical health in childhood and social integration in adulthood. Black participants and White participants showed a similar pattern of findings over time.
The study includes only one measure of social integration and does not include specific measures of physiological processes or cardiovascular function. Cundiff and Matthews note that expanding the scope of measures used in future research could help to illuminate the pathways that link early peer relationships with physical health decades later.
一项历时数十年的研究数据显示，男性在童年时和同伴相处的时长与成年后的身体健康有一定关联。该研究的研究结果发表在心理科学协会的《心理科学》杂志上，结果表明，童年期与同伴相处时间较长的男性，30出头时的血压和身体质量指数往往比同龄人更低。
得克萨斯理工大学心理科学家珍妮·坎迪夫说：“研究结果表明，早期的社交活动可能对成年期的身体健康有小小的保护作用。健康保护不仅来自照顾我们的人或是经济情况，还可能来自我们的同伴。”
上述关联在16年的时间跨度里表现明显，而其他几个潜在因素并未解释这一结果。这让坎迪夫对研究结论颇有信心。
她解释道：“尽管不是实验，但这是一项基于多种族样本、严格对照的纵向研究。因此它强有力地表明：早期融入社会有益于我们的健康，并且不受性格特征、童年期体重、童年期家庭社会地位等诸多其他因素的影响。”
在先前的多项研究中，研究者发现成年人社会幸福感和健康状况之间存在一定的关联。社会幸福感包括亲密关系、社会支持来源等，健康状况则包括心血管危险因素等。坎迪夫和研究报告合作作者——匹兹堡大学的卡伦·马修斯都想知道这一关联能否在较早期如童年期、青春期有明显呈现。
为了找到答案，他们分析了《匹兹堡青年研究》的数据，这是一项纵向追踪研究，最初招募的被试是几所匹兹堡公立学校的男学生。确切来说，他们分析了267位年龄最小的被试的数据，其中大部分是黑人（约56%）或白人（约41%）。
被试的家长提供孩子平均每周与同伴相处时长的数据，从孩子6岁左右开始，一直持续到16岁。研究还考虑到了个体的特征差异（例如，童年时的外向性和攻击性、童年期和成年期的身体健康）以及家庭和环境因素（例如，童年期的社会经济地位、成年期的社会融合）。
分析结果表明：根据父母的报告，在童年期和青春期与同伴相处时间更长的男孩在32岁时的血压和身体质量指数都更健康。即便在坎迪夫和马修斯解释了其他诸如童年期的身体健康和成年期的社会融合等潜在影响后，这一关联依然存在。
随着时间推移，黑人被试与白人被试在结果上表现出相似性。
这项研究衡量社会融合度时，仅用了一种标准，对生理过程或心血管机能没有具体的衡量标准。坎迪夫和马修斯指出，在未来的研究中使用更多衡量方式或有助于阐明早期同伴关系与数十年后身体健康之间的关系。
（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者）
1 BMI = Body Mass Index身体质量指数。 2 caregiver照顾孩子的家人，受雇照顾孩子的人。
3 longitudinal縱向的。 4 independent of独立于……。 5 social well-being社会幸福感。 6 cardiovascular心血管的。 7 cohort（从人口统计角度看）有共同点的一组人（如同年出生等）。
8 extraversion外向性。