Adult Friendship And Wellbeing: Systematic Review

Adult friendships play a crucial role in mental health and overall wellbeing. They provide emotional support, reduce stress, and contribute to a sense of belonging and purpose.

As life circumstances change, maintaining and forming new friendships becomes increasingly challenging yet remains vital for psychological flourishing.

Studying this area helps understand the mechanisms by which friendships impact wellbeing, informing interventions and policies to combat social isolation and promote mental health in adulthood.

Pezirkianidis, C., Galanaki, E., Raftopoulou, G., Moraitou, D., & Stalikas, A. (2023). Adult friendship and wellbeing: A systematic review with practical implications. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1059057. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1059057

Key Points

• The primary methods of studying adult friendship and wellbeing include systematic literature review of empirical studies published between 2000-2019, focusing on quantitative and qualitative research with adults aged 18-65.
• Factors like friendship quality, number of friends, efforts to maintain friendships, socialization with friends, friends’ reactions to positive events, and support from friends significantly affect wellbeing outcomes in adults.
• This research has certain limitations such as a focus on university student samples, limited longitudinal studies, and gaps in examining specific wellbeing components.
• Adult friendship is a vital contributor to overall wellbeing and its various components, highlighting the universal importance of positive social relationships for human flourishing.

Rationale

The study aimed to systematically review research findings on the relationship between adult friendship and wellbeing, adopting a multidimensional scope using the PERMA theory (Seligman, 2011).

While extensive research exists on friendship and wellbeing in children, adolescents, and the elderly, there is a gap in understanding how various elements of adult friendship relate to wellbeing across different life periods.

Most existing research focuses on one-dimensional wellbeing indices like happiness or life satisfaction, primarily using university student samples (Demir, 2015).

This review sought to provide a comprehensive understanding of the association between adult friendship variables and overall wellbeing, as well as its specific components based on the PERMA framework.

Method

The study employed a systematic literature review methodology, adhering to PRISMA guidelines.

The researchers searched for empirical studies with quantitative and qualitative designs using samples ranging from 18 to 65 years old.

Articles published in scientific journals between 2000 and 2019 were included, excluding studies conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The search was conducted using Google Scholar, PsycNET, and Scopus databases.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria:

• Empirical research with quantitative and qualitative design
• Samples aged 18-65 years
• Articles published in scientific journals between 2000-2019
• Written in English
• Accompanied by a digital identifier (DOI)

Exclusion criteria:

• Studies conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Book chapters, reviews, and gray literature
• Articles without full-text access due to copyright
• Articles without a DOI
• Studies with sample ages outside the set limits

Extraction of Data

Two independent evaluators selected studies based on abstracts, titles, and keywords in the first phase.

Any paper considered relevant by at least one evaluator was eligible for full-text inspection. In the second phase, the evaluators independently inspected the full-text of the remaining articles.

The agreement between evaluators was 78% in the first phase and 96% in the second phase.

Statistical measures

The researchers categorized the selected studies into six subgroups based on the PERMA theory of wellbeing, analyzing associations between friendship variables and overall wellbeing, as well as specific components (positive emotions, engagement, positive relationships, meaning in life, and accomplishments).

Results

Associations between adult friendship and wellbeing:

• Friendship quality significantly associates with and predicts wellbeing levels
• Perceived emotional or instrumental support from friends positively correlates with wellbeing
• Socializing with friends associates with and predicts wellbeing levels
• Number of friends positively associates with wellbeing
• Friends’ support of autonomy, reactions to positive experiences, and efforts to maintain friendship correlate with wellbeing

Mediating variables in the association between adult friendship and wellbeing:

• Maintenance of friendship
• Perceived mattering
• Personal sense of uniqueness
• Friendship quality
• Satisfaction of basic psychological needs
• Subjective vitality

Associations between adult friendship and PERMA components:

• Positive emotions: Contradictory findings regarding friendship quality; support from friends positively associates with positive emotions
• Engagement: Limited research; number of friends predicts engagement in community activities
• Positive relationships: Friendship quality and satisfaction correlate with relationship supportive behaviors and social skills
• Meaning in life: Limited research; social support from friends positively associates with purpose in life after negative events
• Accomplishments: Limited research; friendship autonomy support predicts increases in goal progress

Individual differences:

• Gender: Contradictory findings; some studies found no differences, while others reported differences in specific friendship variables
• Race: Limited research; some differences found between American and other cultural samples

Insight

This systematic review provides a comprehensive overview of the relationship between adult friendship and wellbeing, addressing a significant gap in the literature.

The findings consistently demonstrate that various aspects of adult friendship, particularly friendship quality and social support, are strongly associated with overall wellbeing and its components.

The study extends previous research by examining the relationship through the lens of the PERMA theory, offering a more nuanced understanding of how friendship contributes to different facets of wellbeing.

The identification of mediating variables such as perceived mattering, personal sense of uniqueness, and satisfaction of basic psychological needs provides valuable insights into the mechanisms through which friendship influences wellbeing.

These findings suggest that friendships contribute to wellbeing not only through direct support but also by enhancing individuals’ sense of self-worth and fulfilling fundamental psychological needs.

The review also highlights significant gaps in the literature, particularly regarding the relationship between adult friendship and specific components of wellbeing such as engagement, meaning in life, and accomplishments.

This underscores the need for more targeted research in these areas to develop a more holistic understanding of how friendships contribute to overall flourishing.

Further research should focus on longitudinal studies to establish causal relationships between friendship variables and wellbeing outcomes.

Additionally, investigating the impact of adult friendships across different life stages and cultural contexts would provide a more comprehensive understanding of this relationship.

Implications

The findings of this systematic review have significant implications for various fields, including clinical psychology, positive psychology interventions, and public health initiatives.

The strong association between adult friendship and wellbeing underscores the importance of incorporating social support and relationship-building strategies into mental health interventions and wellbeing programs.

For clinical psychology practice, these results suggest that assessing and enhancing the quality of clients’ friendships could be a valuable component of treatment plans for improving overall wellbeing and mental health outcomes.

Therapists might consider developing interventions that focus on building and maintaining high-quality friendships as a means of promoting resilience and positive mental health.

In the context of positive psychology interventions, the findings support the development of programs that specifically target friendship quality, social support, and relationship maintenance skills.

Such interventions could be particularly beneficial in settings like universities, workplaces, and community centers, where they can reach a broad adult population.

The identification of mediating variables provides valuable insights for designing more targeted interventions.

For example, programs that focus on enhancing individuals’ sense of mattering or uniqueness within their friendships might be particularly effective in boosting wellbeing outcomes.

From a public health perspective, these findings highlight the importance of creating social environments and policies that facilitate the formation and maintenance of adult friendships.

This could include initiatives to combat social isolation, promote community engagement, and create spaces for adults to form and nurture meaningful connections.

Strengths

The study had many methodological strengths including:

1. Comprehensive search strategy using multiple databases and a wide range of search terms
2. Rigorous inclusion and exclusion criteria to ensure relevance and quality of included studies
3. Independent evaluation by two reviewers, enhancing the reliability of the selection process
4. Adoption of the PERMA theory framework, providing a structured and multidimensional approach to analyzing wellbeing outcomes
5. Inclusion of both quantitative and qualitative studies, offering a more holistic view of the research landscape
6. Analysis of mediating variables, providing insights into the mechanisms underlying the friendship-wellbeing relationship
7. Examination of individual differences, highlighting the nuances in how friendship may impact wellbeing across different demographics

Limitations

The study has several limitations that should be considered when interpreting its findings:

Geographical and demographic restrictions:

The review predominantly included studies from Western countries, limiting the generalizability of findings to other cultural contexts.

Additionally, many studies focused on university student samples, which may not be representative of the broader adult population.

Methodological limitations:

The majority of included studies were cross-sectional, limiting the ability to establish causal relationships between friendship variables and wellbeing outcomes.

The review also noted a lack of longitudinal studies and research on specific wellbeing components like engagement, meaning, and accomplishments.

Measurement variability:

The review highlighted significant variation in how wellbeing was conceptualized and measured across studies, making it challenging to draw definitive conclusions about specific wellbeing components.

Limited focus on negative aspects: The review primarily focused on positive aspects of friendship and wellbeing, potentially overlooking important insights from studies examining negative friendship experiences or their impact on wellbeing.

Exclusion of COVID-19 era studies:

By excluding studies conducted during the pandemic, the review may not capture recent shifts in the dynamics of adult friendships and their impact on wellbeing.

These limitations suggest that future research should address these gaps by including more diverse samples, employing longitudinal designs, standardizing wellbeing measures, and examining both positive and negative aspects of adult friendships.

References

Primary reference

Pezirkianidis, C., Galanaki, E., Raftopoulou, G., Moraitou, D., & Stalikas, A. (2023). Adult friendship and wellbeing: A systematic review with practical implications. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1059057. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1059057

Other references

Demir, M. (2015). Friendship and happiness: Across the life-span and cultures. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9603-3

Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and wellbeing. Free Press.

Keep Learning

Socratic questions for a college class to discuss this paper:

1. How might the relationship between adult friendship and wellbeing differ across various cultural contexts, and what factors could contribute to these differences?
2. In what ways could the increasing prevalence of digital communication and social media impact the quality and nature of adult friendships, and consequently, their effects on wellbeing?
3. How might the importance of different friendship variables (e.g., quality, quantity, support) shift across different life stages in adulthood, and what implications might this have for wellbeing interventions?
4. Given the limitations of cross-sectional studies, how could researchers design longitudinal studies to better establish causal relationships between friendship variables and wellbeing outcomes?
5. How might the findings of this review inform the development of public policies aimed at promoting social connectedness and wellbeing in adult populations?
6. In what ways could the COVID-19 pandemic have altered the dynamics of adult friendships and their impact on wellbeing? How might future research address these changes?
7. How do the mediating variables identified in this review (e.g., perceived mattering, personal sense of uniqueness) relate to existing psychological theories of wellbeing and social relationships?
8. What ethical considerations should be taken into account when designing interventions to promote adult friendships for the purpose of enhancing wellbeing?