Emotional support across adulthood: A 60-year study of men's social networks.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Prospective longitudinal cohort study
PubMed 39146058 · doi:10.1037/pag0000843
What was done
Researchers conducted growth curve analyses using prospectively collected longitudinal data from a cohort of 235 American men followed for up to 71 years to examine trajectories in emotional support network size across adulthood (ages 30 to 90) and identify childhood family predictors.
What was found
Emotional support networks shrank by up to 50% between ages 30 and 90, corresponding to an average decrease from two providers to one. Men from warmer childhood family environments maintained larger adult emotional support networks. Childhood family socioeconomic status was not associated with later-life emotional support network size.
Why it matters
This study provides rare multi-decade prospective evidence that network shrinkage extends to core emotional support providers and highlights the long-term role of early family warmth in adult social connectedness.
Limits
The study is limited to an archival, all-male United States cohort, restricting generalizability to women and more diverse populations. The abstract does not report exact effect sizes, confidence intervals, or statistical test values, nor does it evaluate downstream health consequences.
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