Social relationships, stress and mortality

Empirically it has been demonstrated in many cases that social networks induce lower mortality rates. This article discusses various approaches to explain this phenomenon in consideration of the influence of stress. The empirical analysis refers to the complex interrelation between social networks, stress and mortality. In doing so, quantitative and qualitative aspects of social networks, different indicators of stress as well as the interaction effect of stress and social network is analyzed. Data derive from the German "MONICA Project" (MONICA=Monitoring of trends and determinants of cardiovascular diseases). The data comprise two cross-sectional surveys in 1984/85 and 1989/90 in the Augsburg area as well as a mortality follow-up in 1997/98. The study includes 7329 persons between the age of 25 and 74 years with German nationality. The empirical analyses confirm the findings that social relationships induce lower mortality rates. Yet, social relationships lead to lower mortality independent of stress and social strains.