Emotions, relationships, health and illness into old age

There is strong evidence linking relationships and emotions to physical health outcomes. What is critically missing is a more comprehensive understanding of how these important psychosocial factors influence disease over the lifespan. In this narrative review, existing lifespan models of social support and emotion regulation are reviewed and integrated into a general conceptual framework in the health domain. This integrated model takes into account bidirectional links between relationships and emotions, as well as health behaviors, biological pathways, and health. Evidence is consistent with the utility of an integrative model attempting to understand its links to health-relevant pathways and outcomes in older adults. Future work that examines multiple pathways using prospective designs will be necessary for this work to reach its full potential, including intervention and policy opportunities.