Published 4 December 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a2781
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2781

Editorials

Happiness, social networks, and health

Psychosocial determinants of health could be transmitted through social connections

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Two linked studies, by Fowler and Christakis (doi:10.1136/bmj.a2338) and Cohen-Cole and Fletcher (doi:10.1136/bmj.a2533), relate to the transmission of health related factors through social networks.1 2 The concept underlying this new field of research is that behaviours may spread over time from one person to another through their immediate and more distant social contacts. Social epidemiology has established the relevance of social connectedness for health, and social network transmission may be one mechanism through which both beneficial and adverse effects are mediated.3

The article by Fowler and Christakis investigated the social transmission of happiness. Happiness is related to several aspects of wellbeing, including better work performance, greater job satisfaction, good family relationships, and a more satisfying social life,4 but what has it got to do with health? It is no surprise that happiness is reduced when people are ill, and that negative emotional states such as depression and . . . [Full text of this article]

Andrew Steptoe, British Heart Foundation professor of psychology1, Ana V Diez Roux, professor of epidemiology2

1 Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, 2 Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, USA

a.steptoe@ucl.ac.uk


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to StumbleUpon StumbleUpon   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

Networking for health
Fiona Godlee
BMJ 2008 337: a3153. [Extract] [Full Text]

Dynamic spread of happiness in a large social network: longitudinal analysis over 20 years in the Framingham Heart Study
James H Fowler and Nicholas A Christakis
BMJ 2008 337: a2338. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Detecting implausible social network effects in acne, height, and headaches: longitudinal analysis
Ethan Cohen-Cole and Jason M Fletcher
BMJ 2008 337: a2533. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

  • (2009). With a Little Help from My Friends: The Happiness Effect. JWatch Psychiatry 2009: 1-1 [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Prescription for Happiness
Hugh Mann
bmj.com, 10 Dec 2008 [Full text]
Access jobs at BMJ Careers
Whats new online at Student BMJ