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Social Integration And Emotional Regulation, Kimberly Stevens, Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Midlife adults face a wide variety of physiological, emotional, and cognitive stressors that place them at risk for impaired physical health and longevity. Social integration—which includes high levels of social engagement as well as maintaining a diverse network of social roles—has been shown to protect against the negative effects of these stressors and decrease mortality rates (Holt-Lunstad, 2010). Research has suggested that “social buffering” provides protection from the physiological effects of stress (Cohen, 1985). In fact, Sheldon Cohen hypothesized a “social buffering” pathway, which suggests that social integration effects psychological and physiological exposure to and reaction to stress (Cohen & …