and then diminish thereafter, often because of new romantic partnerships (Bachman et al. 2002). Second, influential social ties change in both structure and content throughout life, with implications for health. For example, the most important relationship for health behavior in childhood (e.g., parents) is unlikely to be the most important in adulthood (e.g., romantic partners), and, furthermore, the reasons that a given relationship may matter often evolve as individuals transition from stage to stage.
