Social Relationships and Mental Well-Being: On the Relative Importance of Parenthood, Romantic Partnerships, and Friendships

Inga Lass , The University of Melbourne
Ferdi Botha, The University of Melbourne

In recent decades, Australia has seen declining fertility rates, marriage rates, and friendship networks, pointing to an overall reduction in strong social ties. Given the importance of social relationships for mental well-being, this raises concerns about potential negative impacts on population mental health. Prior research has examined the effects of parenthood, romantic partnerships, and friendships on mental health separately. However, less is known about the relative importance of these relationship types for mental well-being, the specific mechanisms linking social ties to mental health, and potential gender differences in these associations. This study utilises longitudinal data from 33,017 respondents interviewed in the HILDA Survey (covering the period 2001–2023) and fixed effects structural equation modelling to investigate: 1) How social relationships affect mental health, 2) The relative importance of friendships, partnerships, and parenthood, 3) The mediating mechanisms involved (focussing on loneliness, emotional and instrumental social support, and socialising frequency), and 4) Gender differences in these relationships. The results highlight friendships as the most important type of social relationship for protecting mental well-being for both men and women, with much of the effect due to reduced loneliness and increased instrumental support. Romantic partnerships also benefit mental health (mostly through reduced loneliness) but to a lesser degree than friendships. Parenthood has a modest, positive direct effect on mental health for women, which, however, is entirely offset by negative indirect effects operating through the four mediators. For men, parenthood is negatively associated with well-being, with both the direct and indirect effects being negative.

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 Presented in Session P5. Health, Mortality, and Ageing 1