Analyses revealed that boys who spent more time with their friends in childhood and adolescence, gutter guards for sale as reported by their parents, had healthier blood pressure and body mass index at age 32.To find out, the researchers examined data from the Pittsburgh Youth Study, a longitudinal study following cohorts of boys who were initially recruited to participate as students in Pittsburgh public schools.The multi-decade study of men suggests that boys who spent more time with friends as children tended to have lower blood pressure and lower BMI as men in their early 30s.g.The study has been published in the journal Psychological Science. The study also included data on various individual characteristics (e.g."Although this wasn't an experiment, it was a well-controlled longitudinal 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 of a number of other factors such as personality, weight in childhood, and the family's social status in childhood," she explains.

This association held even after Cundiff and Matthews accounted for other potential influences, including physical health in childhood and social integration in adulthood. extraversion and hostility in childhood; physical health in childhood and adulthood) and family and environmental factors (e..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."These findings suggest that our early social lives may have a small protective influence on our physical health in adulthood, and it's not just our caregivers or financial circumstances, but also our friends who may be health protective," says psychological scientist Jenny Cundiff of Texas Tech University., socioeconomic status in childhood, social integration in adulthood).

Specifically, they examined data from 267 individuals in the youngest cohort, most of whom were Black (about 56per cent) or White (about 41per cent).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.In many previous studies, researchers have found an association between adults' social well-being - including their close relationships and sources of social support - and health-related outcomes including cardiovascular risk factors.Washington DC: Childhood friendships may carry health benefits into adulthood, according to a study.Black participants and White participants showed a similar pattern of findings over time. 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