The most salient social ties for health vary over the life course, with parents having the greatest influence on children’s health, peers becoming particularly important in adolescence, intimate partners becoming most important in adulthood, and adult children taking an elevated role in later life (Umberson et al. 2010). The principal explanatory mechanisms may also vary over the life course. For example, stressful family interactions may have their greatest impact on children’s health, while peer pressure and the social meaning of health habits (e.g., pressure to experiment with tobacco, alcohol, and drugs) may have their greatest impact in adolescent relationships, and social control of health habits may be most important in adult relationships.
