Among the benefits: lower social anxiety and fewer symptoms of depression
Photo: Constance Bannister Corp/Getty Images It’s pretty well-established at this point that having friends is good for you — over the years, study after study has found that social support is a significant predictor of a long, healthy life. The word friend, though, can mean so many things in so many different contexts: your work spouse, the old college pal you call when you feel like reminiscing, that person on the edge of your social circle that you always chat with at parties.
The study drew from a data set that tracked the mental health of 169 racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse adolescent participants at three points: age 15, age 16, and age 25. For the first two rounds, subjects also identified the person they considered to be their best friend, and the study authors interviewed both members of the duo .
Importantly, it was quality, not quantity, that seemed to matter. In fact, teens who prioritized broader social networks over a few close friends actually had higher rates of social anxiety in young adulthood. When kids are focused on being popular instead of forming deep connections, Narr notes, that’s when problems often arise: “Being the popular kid is ‘cool’ in high school, but by 25, it doesn’t set you apart and make you a leader in the same way,” she says.
And in a pair of studies that involved nearly 280,000 individuals, social psychologist Bill Chopik, a professor at Michigan State University, found that the power of friendship gets stronger with age and becomes even more important in fending off loneliness and chronic disease. But, once again, the quality of those friendships matter.
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