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Social Networks and Health

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Handbook of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of the evidence linking social networks to health outcomes. Evidence on the link between social support and health outcomes is dealt with separately in Chapter 17. In the first section we discuss the definition and measurement of social networks. In the second section, we describe theoretical mechanisms linking social networks to health. The third section provides an overview of the prospective epidemiological evidence linking social networks to major health outcomes (all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease incidence and survival, cancer incidence/survival, and cognitive decline). Our intent is not to provide an exhaustive review. For example, studies have linked social networks to infectious diseases (e.g., HIV/AIDS prognosis) as well as mental health outcomes. The reader is referred to other reviews dealing with these other health endpoints (e.g., see Kawachi and Berkman, 2001 for a summary of social ties and mental health). The concluding section lays out promising future directions for research.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Medical students are familiar with the distinction between structure and function. For example, the structure of the cardiovascular system consists of a central pump (the heart) and some pipes (arteries, veins), while the function of the system is to convey oxygen to tissues.

  2. 2.

    In popular parlance, this effect may be dubbed “nagging”, but we will stick to the term “social influence”.

  3. 3.

    Sometimes, this concept has been referred to by the term “individual social capital” (see van der Gaag and Webber, 2008).

  4. 4.

    A notable exception is the case of marital ties and risk of mortality, which has been instrumented using U.S. state-level variation in the strictness of divorce laws (Lillard and Panis, 1996). The authors found evidence of causation in both directions, i.e. from marriage to health, as well as from health to marriage.

  5. 5.

    Or in some cases, even better if you happen to be hitched to an uncaring, emotionally distant spouse.

  6. 6.

    We should note here that randomized trials of social support provision have not found improved prognosis following myocardial infarction (Berkman et al, 2003) or stroke (Glass et al, 2004).

  7. 7.

    No meta-analysis to our knowledge has examined gender differences in the effects of social networks on mortality. As indicated by our summary tables, the empirical data are heavily weighted toward males.

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  1. Department of Society, Human Development and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Kresge Building 7th Floor, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Ai Ikeda (Research Fellow) & Ichiro Kawachi (Professor of Social Epidemiology and Chair)

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  1. Ai Ikeda
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  1. St Georges Hospital Medical School, Dept. Psychology, University of London, Cranmer Terrace, London, SW17 0RE, United Kingdom

    A. Steptoe

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Ikeda, A., Kawachi, I. (2010). Social Networks and Health. In: Steptoe, A. (eds) Handbook of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-09488-5_18

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