Having This Type Of Person In Your Life Adds Years To Your Biological Age, Study Says
Alones / ShutterstockWe tend to think of aging as something driven mostly by time, genetics, and lifestyle choices. However, recent research suggests that a more subtle factor may actually be making our bodies age faster: the people around us.
Regularly dealing with difficult individuals, whether at work, in friendships, or within families, may accelerate the biological aging process. Consistent exposure to stress and high conflict increases wear and tear on the body, possibly adding years to your age.
According to a new study, having difficult people in your social circle makes you age faster.
Most of us want to live longer and look younger, but how exactly do we do that? Well, we may want to take a look at those around us and consider what exactly they're contributing to us. A group of researchers sought to explore this idea further by conducting a study on the physical and mental effects of being close to people who make our lives harder.
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Roughly 2,345 adult participants from Indiana completed the Person-to-Person Health Interview Study to identify the regular interactions they have within their social networks. During the interviews, participants were specifically asked to name people who cause them stress or make their lives more difficult in some way, termed "hasslers."
The researchers compared these answers with each person's estimated biological age, determined by analyzing saliva samples. They calculated the accumulated cellular damage and current speed of physical decline for each participant, then compared these results to the number of "hasslers" each person reported having.
Having 'hasslers' was found to be fairly common among participants.
Nearly one in three (30%) people reported having at least one difficult person in their life. Researchers also noted certain trends in who was more likely to be exposed to "hasslers," mainly women, regular smokers, people in poor health, and those who experienced childhood trauma.
"It was striking that negative ties were linked to molecular measures of aging, not just self-reported stress or mental health," said Byungkyu Lee, study author and assistant professor of sociology at New York University. "Each additional hassler in a person’s close network was associated with the body being biologically older than it should and aging at a faster pace."
Lee shared that each "hassler" present in someone's life adds about 9-10 months to their determined biological age and makes them age about 1.5% faster than others at the same chronological age. "These findings suggest that promoting healthy aging requires not only strengthening supportive ties, but also reducing chronic interpersonal stress within close relationships," he added.
Having negative social ties has been linked to a broad range of issues, both physical and psychological.
Within the study, the researchers found that participants who reported having more "hasslers" had higher levels of systemic inflammation and a higher body mass index. As for mental health, they also showed increased depression rates and anxiety severity.
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The results conclude that chronic social stress places excess strain on the body's systems. "These findings suggest that promoting healthy aging requires not only strengthening supportive ties, but also reducing chronic interpersonal stress within close relationships," Lee explained.
Social relationships can be complicated, and it may not be as easy as simply cutting a difficult person out of your life. However, it's important to preserve your health and wellness, so it may be worthwhile to take the extra steps to reduce stress on your body and calm your mind.
Kayla Asbach is a writer currently working on her bachelor's degree at the University of Central Florida. She covers relationships, psychology, self-help, pop culture, and human interest topics.
