A recent study has found that the size of men’s social networks, particularly their close and extended friendship circles, is related to their mental health. The findings stem from research conducted over a span of four years — which found that men with fewer friends in these networks are more likely to experience higher levels of depressive symptoms, both in the present and in the future. The study was published in Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being.
Prior research has long suggested a link between social connections and mental health, but specific, long-term data focusing on adult men has been lacking. This study fills that gap by focusing on “social network investment” — a term that describes the time and resources individuals devote to building and maintaining social networks. Unlike social support, which deals with the quality of these interactions, social network investment emphasizes the structural aspects, such as the number of friends or the frequency of interaction.
Researchers at Deakin University in Australia aimed to explore the association between social network investment and mental health specifically in men. This demographic has historically reported fewer emotionally supportive connections compared to women, raising concerns about the potential impact on their mental health. Particularly in established adulthood, a life stage marked by significant transitions such as career choice and parenthood, understanding these social dynamics could be key to developing public health strategies aimed at improving men’s mental health.
The study utilized data from the Men and Parenting Pathways (MAPP) Study, involving 507 Australian men aged between 28 and 32 years at the beginning of the study. All men were recruited between 2015 and 2017 through community organizations, social media, and word of mouth.
The researchers collected data at five different points, analyzing the relationship between various aspects of social network investments — like time spent with friends, and the size of friendship networks. They also studied and collected data on mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and stress. Then, they employed linear regression models with generalized estimating equations — a statistical method ideal for examining both immediate and long-term relationships in the data.
Men with fewer friends in both close and extended networks reported higher levels of depressive symptoms. This association was observed not just concurrently but also longitudinally — indicating that the size of these social networks could predict depressive symptoms a year later.
Engaging in activities like eating meals and physical activities with friends was associated with better mental health outcomes. “Men’s extended friendship network size and sharing a meal with friends were negatively associated with concurrent anxiety and stress,” the study reports. This highlights benefits of social interactions, where even simple activities like dining together can offer significant mental health advantages.
However, these benefits appeared to be immediate and did not have a long-term impact on reducing future mental health issues. In addition, the study found no significant link between social drinking activities and men’s mental health, either positively or negatively.
Despite its comprehensive approach, a notable aspect of the study is its potential for unmeasured factors that may have influenced the results — such as the quality of friendships or individual personality traits. The reliance on self-reported data could introduce biases, and the last two waves of data collection coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, which might have affected social interactions. Furthermore, the study’s focus on an Australian cohort raises questions about the applicability of the findings to other cultural contexts.
“Our findings demonstrate certain facets of social network investment may play a more important role in men’s mental health than others, with a lack of close and extended friendship networks appearing to have a particularly detrimental influence on men’s depressive symptoms a year later,” the researchers concluded.
The study, “Social network investment of men: Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations with mental health problems”, was authored by Kayla Mansour, Christopher J. Greenwood, Lauren M. Francis, Imogene Smith, Craig A. Olsson, and Jacqui A. Macdonald.