Friendship Now Found to Affect Cortisol Levels, Experts Say

(Newswire.net — October 3, 2022) Orlando, FL — Today, more and more people are under high levels of stress. It is worth keeping in mind that there are various factors found to contribute to high stress levels. 

A recently carried-out study was carried out and it tried to see the key differences in the manner that various age groups communicate. The investigators also looked into friendship, which is one conversational component that stands the test of time.

Humans are social beings, and by dialing up an old acquaintance, directing a meeting, and having coffee with a friend are some of the common ways people communicate and mingle with others. 

The research was spearheaded by former Beckman Institute postdoctoral researchers Michelle Rodrigues and Si On Yoon, an interdisciplinary team, who is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Iowa.

Rodrigues is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Social and Cultural Sciences at Marquette University.

They assessed how interlocutors’ age and familiarity with one another affects a conversation, reviewing the interaction’s overall effectiveness and stress responses.

The title of the study is “What are friends for? The impact of friendship on communicative efficiency and cortisol response during collaborative problem solving among younger and older women.” 

Its findings were published in the Journal of Women and Aging in May 2021.

“I was working with several different groups in several different disciplines, coming from the perspective of studying friendship but having previously done research on adolescent girls, but not older women,” Rodrigues said.

The scientists found that younger adult pairs had better communication with their familiar partners than their older counterparts. However, they also communicated less efficiently with unfamiliar partners. 

Further, older adults exhibited conversation dexterity and were able to quickly articulate the abstract tangrams to friends and strangers alike.

“My research program was focused on language measures in social interactions, and I was glad to work with Dr. Rodrigues to develop an integrative approach including both language processing and physiological measures to study social interactions,” said Yoon. 

Scientists are increasingly recommending some measures that are helpful in reducing levels of cortisol or stress. In addition to maintaining friendships, it is also best to achieve proper nourishment.

Some studies suggest that intake of nutrients like B vitamins could be helpful in lessening stress levels. B vitamins are vital for overall health and disease protection, and they may be obtained through the use of formulas like Divine Bounty B Vitamin Complex.

It contains Choline, Pantothenic acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12, Folic Acid, Niacin, Riboflavin, Thiamin, and vitamin B6. (amazon.com/dp/B07414752B).