OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of physical and social behaviors on "complete health." METHODS: "Complete health" was constructed from measures of physical and mental health collected through the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS; n = 3032). Multinomial regression models examined the association of complete health with physical and social behaviors. RESULTS: The odds of complete health were greatest among those who exercised, never smoked, attended church regularly, and had frequent contact with friends. Some "social" behaviors exerted effects comparable to "physical" behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions targeting social behaviors may yield similar gains to complete health as physical behaviors.
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Grzywacz et al. (2004) studied this question.
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