Do Challenging Friendships Accelerate Your Aging Process?
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Difficult Friends Age You Faster? Study Links 'Hasslers' to Accelerated Biological Aging
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Firstpost•22-03-2026, 18:30
Difficult Friends Age You Faster? Study Links 'Hasslers' to Accelerated Biological Aging
•A new study in PNAS explores how 'hasslers' – individuals causing persistent stress in social networks – impact biological aging.
•Researchers found that each additional 'hassler' was associated with roughly nine months higher biological age and a 1.5% faster pace of biological aging.
•The effect was strongest for difficult family relationships, with 10% of parents and children classified as 'hasslers' compared to 3.5% of friendships.
•Negative relationships with spouses/partners did not show the same accelerated aging link, possibly due to mitigating support.
•The study suggests that negative social ties act like other chronic stressors, influencing health and well-being, with accelerated aging as a potential outcome.
