People with close family ties live longer than those with a network of really good friends, according to a study.
It found that for older adults, having more or closer family members – particularly a husband or wife – decreases the likelihood of death.
Having lots of close friends did not have the same effect.
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Study lead author Doctor James Iveniuk, of the University of Toronto in Canada, said: ‘We found that older individuals who had more family in their network, as well as older people who were closer with their family, were less likely to die.’
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People aged between 57 and 85 who said they felt ‘extremely close’ to family members they listed as among their closest confidants had about a six percent risk of mortality within the next five years, compared to a 14 per cent risk among those who said they were ‘not very close’ to the family members they listed.
Daily Mail