Friendship: A Powerful Counter to Early Life Stress.

Strong social bonds formed in adulthood can counteract the negative effects of adversity experienced early in life, according to a study of nearly 200 baboons in Kenya. Baboons who formed strong friendships were found to reclaim up to two years of life expectancy, despite experiencing early life challenges. Each additional hardship a baboon experienced in early life translated to 1.4 years of life lost, irrespective of the strength of their social bonds. The study provides a new perspective on the capacity for social bonds to ameliorate the long-term impacts of early life stress.