The balance of giving versus receiving social support and all-cause mortality in a US national sample

Abstract

While numerous studies exist on the benefits of social support (both receiving and giving), little research exists on how the balance between the support that individuals regularly give versus that which they receive from others relates to physical health. In a US national sample of 6,325 adults from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States, participants were assessed at baseline on hours of social support given and received on a monthly basis, with all-cause mortality data collected from the National Death Index over a 23-y follow-up period. Participants who were relatively balanced in the support they gave compared to what they received had a lower risk of all-cause mortality than those who either disproportionately received support from others (e.g., received more hours of support than they gave each month) or disproportionately gave support to others (e.g., gave many more hours of support a month than they received). These findings applied to instrumental social support (e.g., help with transportation, childcare). Additionally, participants who gave a moderate amount of instrumental social support had a lower risk of all-cause mortality than those who either gave very little support or those who gave a lot of support to others. Associations were evident over and above demographic, medical, mental health, and health behavior covariates. Although results are correlational, one interpretation is that promoting a balance, in terms of the support that individuals regularly give relative to what they receive in their social relationships, may not only help to strengthen the social fabric of society but may also have potential physical health benefits.

Keywords: helping; mortality; social support.

Fig. 1.

Plot of cumulative mortality hazard by years since study entry for participants who disproportionately receive instrumental support (e.g., receiving more support than one gives), for those with balanced support (relatively balanced amount of support given to support received), and for those who disproportionately give support to others (giving many more hours of support per month than one receives). Analyses control for age, gender, race, marital status, education, history of heart disease, and history of cancer.

Fig. 2.

Plot of cumulative mortality hazard by years since study entry for participants with low levels of giving instrumental support to others (<2 h/mo), moderate amounts of giving support to others (2 to 15 h/mo), and high levels of giving support to others (>15 h/mo). Analyses control for age, gender, race, marital status, education, history of heart disease, and history of cancer.