Social ties influence health habits from early childhood through late life, but most research focuses on either adolescence or adulthood. A life course framework highlights continuity and change in social ties and health habits over the long term. Future research should assess how social tie/health habit linkages unfold over time, identify turning points in social ties that trigger changes in health habit trajectories, and seek to understand further how early social connections influence later social ties and health habits. In particular, sociologists should seek to clarify the linkages between psychosocial mechanisms that connect social ties to health behavior.
