ABSTRACT
Since the mid 1970s, there has been a strong interest among behavioral and medical scientists alike in the possible roles that social networks and social supports play in influencing physical health. This interest received substantial impetus in 1979 from the publication of data from a nine-year prospective study of the residents of Alameda County, California (Berkman & Syme, 1979). The study found that a "social integration" index—including questions about marital status, having friends, associating with neighbors, and belonging to formal and informal groups—was related to mortality. Initially healthy persons who were more socially integrated (i.e., had more friends, family and neighbor interactions, belonged to groups, etc.) lived longer than their less integrated counterparts. Apparently something about the social environment had an important influence on health.
