Negative Interactions Are Associated With Faster Aging

A new study reported an association between having more problematic people in close networks and increased biological aging [1].

A look into the dark side

Social connection has been discussed as a factor essential for well-being, reduced epigenetic aging, and inflammatory signaling [2, 3]. However, the dark side of social connections, relationships that are toxic and stressful, and their impact on health and aging, is less studied. Studies to date have mostly focused on the association between conflict and toxic relations in marital relationships and accelerated epigenetic aging [4], with less attention given to relationships outside of marriage.

This study, recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, aims to fill this gap. It focused on investigating “hasslers,” which the authors describe as “people in one’s close social networks who create problems or make life more difficult.” Social connections with such people are a potential source of stress, a well-known factor that is linked to accelerated aging, inflammation, and chronic conditions [5, 6].

Some are more affected than others

The researchers investigated 2,345 people aged 18 to 103 years old. They used “ego networks”, which map social connections around an individual. Study participants had an average network size of 5.07, with approximately 8% of their network classified as hasslers. The networks of 28.8% of study participants included at least one hassler, while about 10% had two or more hasslers.

The number of hasslers didn’t appear to be random. Groups with a higher probability of hasslers included women, the unemployed, daily smokers, people with more adverse childhood experiences, and people who felt that others depended on them. The opposite pattern was seen among people who viewed themselves as important to others and people with better self-reported health.

More hasslers, faster aging

In their next step, the researchers used epigenetic clocks to test whether hasslers in one’s network affect the rate of aging. Epigenetic clocks use markers such as DNA methylation to assess biological age and to judge whether a person ages faster or slower than their chronological age would suggest.

This study’s analysis suggested that “individuals reporting more hasslers exhibit meaningful differences in both the rate and acceleration of biological aging.” The associations remained, albeit sometimes attenuated, even after adjusting for multiple factors, including occupation, adverse childhood experiences, smoking, comorbidity, demographic characteristics, and network size, suggesting an enduring negative effect of social stress on the rate of biological aging.

According to the DunedinPACE epigenetics clock, which measures the rate of aging, each additional hassler in the network was associated with a 1.5% faster pace of aging, or, in other words, aging approximately 1.015 biological years annually instead of only 1 year. While this difference is relatively small, it accumulates over time, and after 10 years, it reflects another 1.8 months of biological aging.

Another epigenetic clock, GrimAge, which was developed to assess the likelihood of death by any cause, offers a different comparison that agrees with the previous conclusion. According to this clock, when compared to the individuals of the same chronological age, people with one additional hassler in their networks were approximately 9.5 months biologically older at the time of measurement.

Such an effect is roughly comparable to 13% or 17% of the effect that smoking that has on accelerated aging, depending on the epigenetic clock used. Further modeling assessment also suggested “that greater exposure corresponds to larger increases in epigenetic aging.”

Not all hasslers are created equal

The prevalence of different groups of hasslers differed. While almost 9% of partners were classified as hasslers, kinship relationships ranged from approximately 5.5% of grandchildren and grandparents reported as hasslers to almost 10% of parents and children. Non-kin relationships showed even higher variability but also some of the categories with the lowest prevalence of hasslers, such as friends, churchmates, or healthcare providers (around 3-5%), suggesting that self-selected ties lead to a lower presence of hasslers, while those that involve interdependence, obligation, and shared space show higher prevalence.

Also, their impact on aging varied by relationship type. For both epigenetic clocks, kin hasslers showed significant associations with accelerated biological aging, and these associations were more pronounced than other relationships. Nonkin hasslers showed a significant association with GrimAge but not with DunedinPACE.

Surprisingly, spouses showed no significant associations in any of the clocks tested. This differs from previous work on this topic, which suggests that marital strain is a driver of aging [4, 7, 8].

An analysis of network patterns suggested an explanation for these results. Since kin hasslers have a stronger position in the network and those relationships are more difficult to leave, conflicts with them are long-lasting and difficult to avoid. The pressure from non-kin hasslers is smaller, since they are more peripheral in the network and those relationships are easier to disengage with and might be less impactful on the individual; nevertheless, they still exert a negative effect, albeit to a lesser extent. By this logic, spousal hasslers should have the strongest effect on accelerated aging. However, this was not observed. The researchers believe it is because the relationship with spouses might involve a mix of negative and positive interactions that lessen the effect.

Beyond aging

The presence of hasslers extends beyond accelerated aging and negatively impacts health across multiple domains, with mental health, including depression and anxiety severity, being affected the most. Physical health is modestly but significantly affected as well. The researchers reported that additional hasslers are associated with poorer general health and physical health, as well as a higher BMI and waist-to-hip ratio.

The authors summarize that “this study provides evidence that negative social relationships operate as potent, chronic stressors capable of shaping epigenetic and physiological risk profiles across adulthood.” However, the authors also caution that, while this study observes an association, it cannot establish causality between the presence of hasslers in the social network and accelerated aging, and more research is necessary to establish if hassling co-occurs with other forms of negative behavior, such as hostility, coercion, chronic criticism, or gaslighting, and their impact on health and aging.

Literature

[1] Lee, B., Ciciurkaite, G., Peng, S., Mitchell, C., & Perry, B. L. (2026). Negative social ties as emerging risk factors for accelerated aging, inflammation, and multimorbidity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 123(8), e2515331123.

[2] Holt-Lunstad J. (2024). Social connection as a critical factor for mental and physical health: evidence, trends, challenges, and future implications. World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), 23(3), 312–332.

[3] Ong, A. D., Mann, F. D., & Kubzansky, L. D. (2025). Cumulative social advantage is associated with slower epigenetic aging and lower systemic inflammation. Brain, behavior, & immunity – health, 48, 101096.

[4] Wang, W., Dearman, A., Bao, Y., & Kumari, M. (2023). Partnership status and positive DNA methylation age acceleration across the adult lifespan in the UK. SSM – population health, 24, 101551.

[5] Miller, G. E., Chen, E., & Parker, K. J. (2011). Psychological stress in childhood and susceptibility to the chronic diseases of aging: moving toward a model of behavioral and biological mechanisms. Psychological bulletin, 137(6), 959–997.

[6] McEwen, B. S., & Stellar, E. (1993). Stress and the individual. Mechanisms leading to disease. Archives of internal medicine, 153(18), 2093–2101.

[7] Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K., Wilson, S. J., & Madison, A. (2019). Marriage and Gut (Microbiome) Feelings: Tracing Novel Dyadic Pathways to Accelerated Aging. Psychosomatic medicine, 81(8), 704–710.

[8] Kim, J. K., Arpawong, T. E., Klopack, E. T., & Crimmins, E. M. (2024). Parental Divorce in Childhood and the Accelerated Epigenetic Aging for Earlier and Later Cohorts: Role of Mediators of Chronic Depressive Symptoms, Education, Smoking, Obesity, and Own Marital Disruption. Journal of population ageing, 17(2), 297–313.