張靜

Time spent with friends in childhood is associated with physical health in adulthood， according to data from a multi-decade study of men. The findings， published in Psychological Science， a journal of the Association for Psychological Science， show that boys who spent more time with friends as children tended to have lower blood pressure and lower BMI1 as men in their early 30s.

“These findings suggest that our early social lives may have a small protective influence on our physical health in adulthood， and its not just our caregivers2 or financial circumstances， but also our friends who may be health protective，” says psychological scientist Jenny Cundiff of Texas Tech University.

The fact that the association was evident over a 16-year span and was not explained by several other potential factors gives Cundiff confidence in the results.

“Although this wasnt an experiment， it was a well-controlled longitudinal3 study in a racially diverse sample—so it provides a strong clue that being socially integrated early in life is good for our health independent of4 a number of other factors such as personality， weight in childhood， and the familys social status in childhood，” she explains.

In many previous studies， researchers have found an association between adults social well-being5—including their close relationships and sources of social support—and health-related outcomes including cardiovascular6 risk factors. Cundiff and coauthor Karen Matthews of the University of Pittsburgh wondered whether this association might be evident much earlier in life， in childhood and adolescence.

To find out， the researchers examined data from the Pittsburgh Youth Study， a longitudinal study following cohorts7 of boys who were initially recruited to participate as students in Pittsburgh public schools. Specifically， they examined data from 267 individuals in the youngest cohort， most of whom were Black （about 56%） or White （about 41%）.

The participants parents reported how much time their children spent with their friends during an average week， beginning when the boys were about 6 years old and continuing through age 16. The study also included data on various individual characteristics （e.g. extraversion8 and hostility in childhood; physical health in childhood and adulthood） and family and environmental factors （e.g.， socioeconomic status in childhood， social integration in adulthood）.

Analyses revealed that boys who spent more time with their friends in childhood and adolescence， as reported by their parents， had healthier blood pressure and body mass index at age 32. This association held even after Cundiff and Matthews accounted for other potential influences， including physical health in childhood and social integration in adulthood.

Black participants and White participants showed a similar pattern of findings over time.

The study includes only one measure of social integration and does not include specific measures of physiological processes or cardiovascular function. Cundiff and Matthews note that expanding the scope of measures used in future research could help to illuminate the pathways that link early peer relationships with physical health decades later.

一項歷時數(shù)十年的研究數(shù)據(jù)顯示，男性在童年時和同伴相處的時長與成年后的身體健康有一定關聯(lián)。該研究的研究結果發(fā)表在心理科學協(xié)會的《心理科學》雜志上，結果表明，童年期與同伴相處時間較長的男性，30出頭時的血壓和身體質量指數(shù)往往比同齡人更低。

得克薩斯理工大學心理科學家珍妮·坎迪夫說：“研究結果表明，早期的社交活動可能對成年期的身體健康有小小的保護作用。健康保護不僅來自照顧我們的人或是經(jīng)濟情況，還可能來自我們的同伴。”

上述關聯(lián)在16年的時間跨度里表現(xiàn)明顯，而其他幾個潛在因素并未解釋這一結果。這讓坎迪夫對研究結論頗有信心。

她解釋道：“盡管不是實驗，但這是一項基于多種族樣本、嚴格對照的縱向研究。因此它強有力地表明：早期融入社會有益于我們的健康，并且不受性格特征、童年期體重、童年期家庭社會地位等諸多其他因素的影響?！?/p>

在先前的多項研究中，研究者發(fā)現(xiàn)成年人社會幸福感和健康狀況之間存在一定的關聯(lián)。社會幸福感包括親密關系、社會支持來源等，健康狀況則包括心血管危險因素等?？驳戏蚝脱芯繄蟾婧献髯髡摺テ澅ご髮W的卡倫·馬修斯都想知道這一關聯(lián)能否在較早期如童年期、青春期有明顯呈現(xiàn)。

為了找到答案，他們分析了《匹茲堡青年研究》的數(shù)據(jù)，這是一項縱向追蹤研究，最初招募的被試是幾所匹茲堡公立學校的男學生。確切來說，他們分析了267位年齡最小的被試的數(shù)據(jù)，其中大部分是黑人（約56%）或白人（約41%）。

被試的家長提供孩子平均每周與同伴相處時長的數(shù)據(jù)，從孩子6歲左右開始，一直持續(xù)到16歲。研究還考慮到了個體的特征差異（例如，童年時的外向性和攻擊性、童年期和成年期的身體健康）以及家庭和環(huán)境因素（例如，童年期的社會經(jīng)濟地位、成年期的社會融合）。

分析結果表明：根據(jù)父母的報告，在童年期和青春期與同伴相處時間更長的男孩在32歲時的血壓和身體質量指數(shù)都更健康。即便在坎迪夫和馬修斯解釋了其他諸如童年期的身體健康和成年期的社會融合等潛在影響后，這一關聯(lián)依然存在。

隨著時間推移，黑人被試與白人被試在結果上表現(xiàn)出相似性。

這項研究衡量社會融合度時，僅用了一種標準，對生理過程或心血管機能沒有具體的衡量標準?？驳戏蚝婉R修斯指出，在未來的研究中使用更多衡量方式或有助于闡明早期同伴關系與數(shù)十年后身體健康之間的關系。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）

1 BMI = Body Mass Index身體質量指數(shù)。 ?2 caregiver照顧孩子的家人，受雇照顧孩子的人。

3 longitudinal縱向的。 ?4 independent of獨立于……。 ?5 social well-being社會幸福感。 ?6 cardiovascular心血管的。 ?7 cohort（從人口統(tǒng)計角度看）有共同點的一組人（如同年出生等）。

8 extraversion外向性。