The contribution of social relationships and interactions to the health and well-being of human beings is undisputed.
Indeed, numerous studies have shown that having a social support network plays a key role in helping people cope with, and recover from the devastating effects of tragedies, trauma, psychological stress and physical illness.
In spite of people knowing that allowing themselves to receive support from others is important, not much is known about the opposite (giving the support).
Psychologists from the US-based Ohio State University conducted research on the matter and discovered that people are likely to enjoy immense health and well-being gains if they are willing to not only receive support from others but also give it to them.
The findings of their study, which were published in the Brain, Behaviour and Immunity Journal, indicate that giving and receiving social support goes a long way in improving the health of human beings.
“In other words, having friends to lean on may not help your health unless you also say that you’re available to help them when they need it,” noted the researchers.
According to them, these give-and-take relationships help in bringing down stress levels. This leads to reduced chronic inflammation in the body, which is considered a hallmark for good health.
“Positive relationships may be associated with lower inflammation only for those who believe they can give more support in those relationships,” said Tao Jiang, the lead author of the study from the Ohio State University.
Inflammation refers to the body’s process of fighting against things that harm it - such as infections, injuries, toxins and stress - in an attempt to heal itself.
This process or response includes the release of certain chemicals, antibodies, proteins, as well as increased blood flow to the damaged areas.
In the case of acute inflammation — like getting cut on the knee or dealing with a cold — the whole process usually lasts for a few hours or a few days.
But with chronic inflammation caused by long-term stress, this response lingers, leaving the body in a constant state of alert.
Over time, this may have a negative impact on the body's tissues and organs. This makes people vulnerable to diseases and infections.
The results show that the healing power of good relationships comes from the fact that the support is mutual,” stated Baldin Way, another author of the study and associate professor of psychology at the Ohio State University.
“It may be that when people believe they can give more support to friends and family, these relationships are especially rewarding and stress-relieving, which reduces inflammation. Indeed, these results show that the healing power of good relationships comes from the fact that the support is mutual.”
The study involved 1,054 participants that comprised of healthy adults between 34 and 84 years old in the US.
They were asked to complete a questionnaire that measured their social integration. The questions sought to find out whether they were married or living with a partner, how often they contacted family and friends, and how often they attended social groups or activities.
Participants also indicated to what extent they believed they could rely on their family, friends or spouse if they needed help.
This research is among the few that also asked participants to rate how much they were available to support family, friends and their spouse.
About two years later, these participants returned for blood tests. Among them was the interleukin-6 (IL-6) test, which is a marker of systemic inflammation in the body.
Higher levels of the IL-6 protein are usually associated with the increased risk for many of the ailments that are top killers globally, including cardiovascular disease and cancer.
“The findings showing the importance of being available to help others held true even after taking into account a broad range of other factors that may affect inflammation such as age, income, health behaviours, medication use and diagnosed medical conditions,” said Jiang.
He further noted that an exploratory analysis of the findings suggested that the connection between offering social support and health may be mostly found in women.
“This reflects the idea that social relationships are often seen as more important for women than for men. But our sample size was not large enough to show that conclusively. We need to study that issue further.”
Nevertheless, the researchers note that the study gives a more nuanced understanding of the link between health and relationships.
“This work underscores the importance of incorporating the concept of giving support into future research in this area,” stated Jiang.
