Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208;
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Jun 15;118(24). doi: 10.1073/pnas.2024770118.
While numerous studies exist on the benefits of social support (both receiving and giving), little research exists on how the balance between the support that individuals regularly give versus that which they receive from others relates to physical health. In a US national sample of 6,325 adults from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States, participants were assessed at baseline on hours of social support given and received on a monthly basis, with all-cause mortality data collected from the National Death Index over a 23-y follow-up period. Participants who were relatively balanced in the support they gave compared to what they received had a lower risk of all-cause mortality than those who either disproportionately received support from others (e.g., received more hours of support than they gave each month) or disproportionately gave support to others (e.g., gave many more hours of support a month than they received). These findings applied to instrumental social support (e.g., help with transportation, childcare). Additionally, participants who gave a moderate amount of instrumental social support had a lower risk of all-cause mortality than those who either gave very little support or those who gave a lot of support to others. Associations were evident over and above demographic, medical, mental health, and health behavior covariates. Although results are correlational, one interpretation is that promoting a balance, in terms of the support that individuals regularly give relative to what they receive in their social relationships, may not only help to strengthen the social fabric of society but may also have potential physical health benefits.
虽然有大量研究探讨了社会支持（包括接受和给予）的好处，但关于个体定期给予他人的支持与从他人那里获得的支持之间的平衡与身体健康之间的关系的研究却很少。在美国，对来自美国全国中年发展调查的 6325 名成年人的全国样本进行了一项研究，参与者在基线时根据每月收到和给予的社会支持时间进行评估，在 23 年的随访期间，通过国家死亡指数收集所有原因的死亡率数据。与那些从他人那里获得不成比例支持（例如，每月获得的支持时间比给予的多）或不成比例地给予他人支持（例如，每月给予的支持时间比获得的多）的参与者相比，在给予的支持与获得的支持相对平衡的参与者中，全因死亡率的风险较低。这些发现适用于工具性社会支持（例如，帮助交通、儿童保育）。此外，与给予很少支持或给予他人很多支持的参与者相比，给予适量工具性社会支持的参与者全因死亡率较低。这些关联在人口统计学、医学、心理健康和健康行为等因素之外仍然存在。尽管结果是相关的，但有一种解释是，促进个体定期给予的支持与他们在社交关系中获得的支持之间的平衡，不仅有助于加强社会结构，而且可能对身体健康有益。
