朋友比家人更重要?還影響健康?大綱

Blood is thicker than water, but that doesn't mean our friendships should take a backseat to our family relationships as we grow up.

血濃於水，但這不意味着在我們成長過程中面對家庭關係時友誼就得靠邊站。

A new study has found that friendships can have a much greater impact on our overall health and happiness as we age than our families, suggesting that it's worth our while to invest in those relationships now, so they're with us for the long-haul.

一項新的研究發現，隨着年齡增長，友誼對我們整體健康和幸福的影響要比家庭更大，研究表明我們現在值得把時間投入到友誼中，因此友誼才能長久相伴。

"Friendships become even more important as we age," says psychologist William Chopik from Michigan State University. "Keeping a few really good friends around can make a world of difference for our health and well-being. So it's smart to invest in the friendships that make you happiest."

來自密歇根州立大學的心理學家William Chopik說：“隨着年齡增長友誼會變得更重要，身邊留住幾個摯友會影響我們的健康和幸福，所以明智的做法就是對使你最幸福的友誼進行投資”。

To figure this out, Chopik analysed survey information about relationships and self-rated health and happiness from 271,053 participants across all age groups from nearly 100 countries around the world. He then compared the results to a separate survey about relationship support, relationship strain, and chronic illness, involving 7,481 older adults (median age 68) in the US.

爲了弄清楚Chopik分析了關於友誼和健康幸福自測的調查信息，調查結果來自全世界近100個國家各個年齡段的271,053位參與者。然後他又對比了一份關於關係支持、血緣關係和慢性病的獨立調查的結果，這一調查涉及了7,481位美國老年人（平均年齡68）。

The first survey revealed that, overall, those who valued both their family and friendship relationships enjoyed greater health and higher happiness. But among the older participants, valuing friendships became a stronger predictor of health and happiness than valuing family.

第一項調查揭示了從整體來看，那些家人和朋友都重視的人健康和幸福指數都更高。但老年人中，重視友誼要比重視家庭更能預測健康和幸福狀況。

The second survey took this notion even further by revealing that friendships have a far greater influence on our physical and emotional state as we age than our family relationships.

第二項調查進一步證實了這個想法，揭示了隨着我們年齡增長，友誼比家庭關係對我們身體和精神狀態會有更深遠的影響。

Interestingly, family relationships with people other than spouses and immediate children were found to have little influence on an individual's health and well-being in older adulthood across both surveys.

有趣的是，兩項調查都發現除了配偶和親生子女之外的家庭關係在老年時期對個人健康和幸福的影響微乎其微。

The results do reflect what many of us have likely already experienced, even before we hit 'old age' - we benefit from our friends because we get to choose the ones who make us feel happiest, whereas family can often come with inescapable baggage and stress.

調查結果確實反映了我們中很多人還未老就已經體驗到的感受，我們受益於朋友，因爲我們能選擇使自己最幸福的朋友，然而家人可能常會帶來不可避免的負擔和壓力。

A network of good friends was linked to a 22 percent reduction in the risk of dying during the 10-year follow-up period of the study, when compared to close ties with children or relatives. So while studies like these can't predict your future as an individual, they do provide some pretty valuable life advice: don't put all your eggs in one basket. Your family will always be your blood, but the friendships you make now could end up being an invaluable investment for your health and happiness later.

10年的研究隨訪期發現，相較於與孩子或親戚的親密關係，好的朋友圈會降低22%的死亡風險。所以雖然類似的研究不能預測你個人的未來，但確實提供了一些相當有價值的人生建議：不要把雞蛋放在同一個籃子裏。你的家人永遠是你的至親，但你現在建立的友誼最終會成爲你對未來健康和幸福所做的寶貴投資。