A study has just shown that stressful social relationships, in the immediate circle, the family or even in the couple, would be associated with a risk of premature death.
Having strained relationships with neighbors, children, or even wife or husband would not only be stressful and difficult to live with, but it could actually cost you a few years of your life. This is in any case what has just revealed an original study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. According to this scientific work, which analyzed the impact of stressful social relationships on a Danish cohort of nearly 10,000 individuals aged 36 to 52, living under the pressure of incessant arguments would indeed be linked to a reduced life expectancy. causes of death combined.
Frequent conflicts, a doubled risk of death
In order to concretely assess the impact of anxiety-inducing social relationships, these researchers therefore followed 9875 men and women for almost 11 years. In particular, all the participants had to answer a series of questions concerning their relationship with their spouse, their children, their close entourage and even their friends or neighbors. This team of scientists, for example, sought to measure the frequency of altercations with each other. 6% of participants have frequent conflicts with their partner or children, 2% with other relatives and finally 1% with friends or neighbors. As a result, it emerges that frequent conflicts with anyone in the social circle are clearly associated with a doubling or tripling of the risk of death from all causes, compared to a serene social life.
Unemployed men particularly vulnerable
Moreover, this study also highlights the fact that the male sex is particularly sensitive to this risk. Especially unemployed men faced with arguments with their female partners. An observation that should give arguments to men whose relations with their partner are not always in good shape. Although the authors of this study are not yet able to explain this association biologically, they point out, however, that previous studies have already shown that high levels of anxiety could increase, for example, the risk of heart problems or stroke. Conversely, they also specify that certain studies have shown that good social relations and a large network of friends can have positive consequences for health. Although worries and arguments are an integral part of life, this study nonetheless concludes that it would be interesting to better target and deal with conflicts, especially intra-family conflicts, such as unemployed people.
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