朋友比家人更重要？还影响健康？

Blood is thicker than water, but that doesn't mean our friendships should take a backseat to our family relationships as we grow up.

血浓于水，但这不意味着在我们成长过程中面对家庭关系时友谊就得靠边站。

A new study has found that friendships can have a much greater impact on our overall health and happiness as we age than our families, suggesting that it's worth our while to invest in those relationships now, so they're with us for the long-haul.

一项新的研究发现，随着年龄增长，友谊对我们整体健康和幸福的影响要比家庭更大，研究表明我们现在值得把时间投入到友谊中，因此友谊才能长久相伴。

"Friendships become even more important as we age," says psychologist William Chopik from Michigan State University. "Keeping a few really good friends around can make a world of difference for our health and well-being. So it's smart to invest in the friendships that make you happiest."

来自密歇根州立大学的心理学家William Chopik说：“随着年龄增长友谊会变得更重要，身边留住几个挚友会影响我们的健康和幸福，所以明智的做法就是对使你最幸福的友谊进行投资”。

To figure this out, Chopik analysed survey information about relationships and self-rated health and happiness from 271,053 participants across all age groups from nearly 100 countries around the world. He then compared the results to a separate survey about relationship support, relationship strain, and chronic illness, involving 7,481 older adults (median age 68) in the US.

为了弄清楚Chopik分析了关于友谊和健康幸福自测的调查信息，调查结果来自全世界近100个国家各个年龄段的271,053位参与者。然后他又对比了一份关于关系支持、血缘关系和慢性病的独立调查的结果，这一调查涉及了7,481位美国老年人（平均年龄68）。

The first survey revealed that, overall, those who valued both their family and friendship relationships enjoyed greater health and higher happiness. But among the older participants, valuing friendships became a stronger predictor of health and happiness than valuing family.

第一项调查揭示了从整体来看，那些家人和朋友都重视的人健康和幸福指数都更高。但老年人中，重视友谊要比重视家庭更能预测健康和幸福状况。

The second survey took this notion even further by revealing that friendships have a far greater influence on our physical and emotional state as we age than our family relationships.

第二项调查进一步证实了这个想法，揭示了随着我们年龄增长，友谊比家庭关系对我们身体和精神状态会有更深远的影响。

Interestingly, family relationships with people other than spouses and immediate children were found to have little influence on an individual's health and well-being in older adulthood across both surveys.

有趣的是，两项调查都发现除了配偶和亲生子女之外的家庭关系在老年时期对个人健康和幸福的影响微乎其微。

The results do reflect what many of us have likely already experienced, even before we hit 'old age' - we benefit from our friends because we get to choose the ones who make us feel happiest, whereas family can often come with inescapable baggage and stress.

调查结果确实反映了我们中很多人还未老就已经体验到的感受，我们受益于朋友，因为我们能选择使自己最幸福的朋友，然而家人可能常会带来不可避免的负担和压力。

A network of good friends was linked to a 22 percent reduction in the risk of dying during the 10-year follow-up period of the study, when compared to close ties with children or relatives. So while studies like these can't predict your future as an individual, they do provide some pretty valuable life advice: don't put all your eggs in one basket. Your family will always be your blood, but the friendships you make now could end up being an invaluable investment for your health and happiness later.

10年的研究随访期发现，相较于与孩子或亲戚的亲密关系，好的朋友圈会降低22%的死亡风险。所以虽然类似的研究不能预测你个人的未来，但确实提供了一些相当有价值的人生建议：不要把鸡蛋放在同一个篮子里。你的家人永远是你的至亲，但你现在建立的友谊最终会成为你对未来健康和幸福所做的宝贵投资。