People in one’s close social network who make life difficult or “Hasslers” may have consequences on aging, with each additional hassler responsible for about 1.5 per cent faster speed of aging and nine month older biological age, a study has found.
Aging effects were found to be especially pronounced when a hassler is a family member. Women, daily smokers, people in poorer health and those with adverse childhood experiences are more likely to report having hasslers in their social networks.
Findings published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) showed that negative social ties are not rare within close relationships, with nearly 30 per cent of the participants reporting at least one hassler in their network.
The researchers also found that hasslers tend to occupy peripheral network positions and more likely to be connected through weak, uniplex relationships defined by a single type of interaction such as only business. (PTI)
