The link between social ties and health behavior is now emphasized in efforts to promote population health (e.g., Healthy People 2010), and sociological work must inform such policy action. Given the potential for social ties to have both positive and negative effects on health habits, sociologists must clarify the complex patterns of social ties (e.g., which ties, which aspects of those ties), health habits, the mechanisms that link social ties and health habits, and how those patterns vary across social groups and over the life course. In doing so, we should also be aware that policy efforts to alter social ties in ways that promote health for one group may undermine health for others. For example, policies that urge adults to play a key role in altering the health habits of family members (e.g., an adolescent with alcohol problems, a spouse with heart disease, or an elderly parent with diabetes) may place stress on caregivers that ultimately undermines the caregiver’s own healthy lifestyle as well as the caregiver’s ability to participate in and maintain their social ties.
