Being around “hasslers” — people in your family or social circle who create problems or make life more difficult — may be aging you faster because of the chronic stress it causes, according to a new study by University of Indiana sociologists.
The findings, published last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, highlight the potential health harms of negative social interactions — a twist on the large body of evidence showing that social connections have positive health impacts.
“Much of the existing research on healthy aging has focused on positive aspects of networks, like reducing loneliness and social isolation,” said co-author Brea Perry, an Allen D. and Polly S. Grimshaw professor of sociology at Indiana University Bloomington. “But what we suggest is that the negative aspects of networks are perhaps equally important for health outcomes.”
The researchers measured biological aging by assessing DNA methylation in saliva samples, which is a good indicator of exposure to chronic stress.
The study found that every additional hassler that study participants regularly interacted with was associated with a 1.5% faster rate of aging. This meant that instead of aging one biological year per calendar year, individuals with one more hassler in their life aged 1.015 biological years per calendar year.
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This difference accumulates over time: Over a 10-year period, this faster rate of aging results in 1.8 extra months of biological aging.
Using a separate measure of aging, researchers also found that participants who reported having a hassler in their life were, on average, 9 to 10 months biologically older than their peers of the same chronological age.
Each additional hassler was also associated with worse mental health, including depression and anxiety.
The study found an association, not direct causation, between being around hasslers and these poorer health outcomes, even after controlling for other factors like participants’ prior health conditions, smoking and adverse childhood experiences.
The reason is likely that being around hasslers exposes you to chronic stress, a well-established driver of biological aging. Chronic stress can fuel inflammation, disrupt immune function and contribute to cumulative wear and tear on the body.
The study draws attention to the fact that not all social interactions are beneficial for one’s health.
“Increasing social contact alone may not be sufficient if some of those connections are negative or chronically stressful,” Perry said. “So much research has focused on the positive aspects of that and not the dark side of social networks. Addressing that is essential for promoting healthy aging.”
The study included data from about 2,300 adults in Indiana, aged 18 to 103. About 30% reported having at least one hassler in their network, and about 10% reported having two hasslers or more. The lead author was Byungkyu Lee, an assistant professor of sociology at NYU.
Women, people in poorer health, and people with greater histories of adverse childhood experiences were more likely to have hasslers in their networks, the study found. This may be because people who are already vulnerable may also be more likely to be embedded in stressful social environments, Perry said.
Women in particular also tend to be more affected by the positive and negative aspects of relationships, are more involved in managing social environments like their families’ schedules, and are more involved in caregiving, she said.
Women “tend to be kin keepers and community keepers, so they’re in a position to be more vulnerable to regular interaction with hasslers,” she said.
Hasslers that have the most influence tend to be relationships that are difficult to negotiate and hard to extract yourself from, like family members you feel obligated to maintain ties with.
“It’s important for people to minimize the stress associated with these ongoing interactions,” Perry said. “Thinking about doing things like setting boundaries, engaging in self-care or activities to reduce stress before or after, maybe going to therapy with that person to try to improve the relationships … All these things are important for managing the stress associated with hasslers.”
Catherine Ho covers health care at The San Francisco Chronicle. Before joining the paper in 2017, she worked at The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and the Daily Journal, writing about business, politics, lobbying and legal affairs. She’s a Bay Area native and alum of UC Berkeley and the Daily Californian.
