Fulfilling friendships boost health and wellbeing, further suggests a new global study

Data of more than 200,000 adults, from 22 countries, shows good quality social connections are linked with one’s perceptions of improved mental and physical health

Jacek Makowicz for Alamy

Fulfilling friendships and general close social relationships are strongly linked to excellent physical and mental health, finds a substantial global study published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Mental Health.

Data from more than 200,000 adults shows good quality social connections and – to a lesser extent – positive family ties in childhood are associated with better perceptions of overall mental and physical health

The research, representing one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind, spanned 22 countries including the UK, US, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Spain, India, Japan, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, Mexico and others.
The outcomes of the paper – carried out by Dr Veli Durmuş, from Kütahya Health Sciences University, in Türkiye – demonstrate the importance of social and family bonds.

Dr Durmuş is now calling on policymakers to ensure health strategies recognise the influence of these emotional and social connections on mental and physical health.

“I found that people who were more satisfied with their friendships and relationships also tended to report better mental and physical health,” says Dr Durmuş, whose research specialism focuses on health management, health policy, the determinants of health, and health law.

“These findings show why social connections should be considered an important part of overall health and well-being. With this in mind, public health planning and prevention strategies should include the impact on mental and physical wellbeing of how people connect with others and with their families.”

Evidence shows relationships protect against stress, boost self-esteem and help people manage their emotions in a positive way.

The number and quality of personal ties made by humans influence mental and bodily wellbeing from birth onwards, according to existing research. However, studies have focused only on individual countries and results have proved inconsistent.

To bridge this knowledge gap, Dr Durmuş analysed data on 204,907 adults aged 18 and over from the Global Flourishing Study (GFS). This project surveys individuals to determine what factors help humans to flourish throughout life.

The GFS covers countries in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Oceania, the Middle East, and Africa. For the purpose of this new study, the researchers used the first phase of the GFS to ensure religious and cultural diversity.

Participants were asked the extent to which they agreed or disagreed that they were content or satisfied with their friendships and relationships. Childhood connections with mothers and fathers were scored on a scale from ‘very good’ to ‘very bad’.

Those taking part in the survey also had to rate their mental and physical health from ‘poor’ to ‘excellent’. In addition, the researchers took into account income, education and other factors.

Results showed that individuals who reported the highest contentment with friendships and for satisfaction with relationships also tended to report better overall mental and physical health.

A similar, although weaker, pattern emerged among participants who reported very good childhood relationships with their parents.

Dr Durmuş explains that these findings suggest that early family relationships may be associated with health and well-being later in life, while adult social relationships may also play an important role.

“While these additional findings suggest that childhood relationships matter, they do not tell the whole story. People’s social environments continue to change throughout life, and friendships, partnerships and other relationships may strengthen or modify the influence of earlier experiences,” he adds.

Mental health scores were lower among people in their mid-thirties to late forties compared with those aged 18 to 34 years, but higher among those aged 65 and above.

Being married, having sufficient money, and identifying with a religion, especially Islam, was associated with better mental and physical health scores.

Marked variations existed between countries. People living in Indonesia scored highest for contentment with friendships and relationships, and lowest among those in Japan.

In conclusion, the findings demonstrate strong social relationships serve as a ‘universal pillar’ of well-being across cultural backgrounds. Dr Durmuş, emphasises that the strength of his research lies in the analysis of data from multiple countries with populations made up of people from diverse backgrounds.

A limitation of the paper is that it cannot prove cause-and-effect; being based on self-reported data, the findings depend heavily on people’s subjective perceptions at that moment in time that they are asked.