Psychosocial Determinants of Healthy Longevity: Social Connection, Purpose, and Mental Resilience

Healthy longevity is usually framed as a biological problem: which pathways slow aging, which interventions extend healthspan, which biomarkers track functional decline. This Research Topic starts from a different premise. Psychological, behavioral, and social factors are not a soft backdrop to healthy aging, they are among its critical determinants. Social connection, a structured sense of purpose, and psychological resilience shape how people age at the level of biology, function, and lived experience, and their absence accelerates decline in ways that are measurable, not merely anecdotal. This collection asks what happens when these protective factors are present, what happens when they break down, and how both can be acted on.We welcome Original Research, Systematic Reviews, and Policy or Concept papers addressing the following themes.Biological and behavioral pathways linking psychosocial factors to healthy aging. Social connectedness and mental well being do not act on longevity in the abstract. They operate through identifiable physiological and behavioral routes, from stress reactivity and inflammatory load to health behaviors and treatment adherence. Contributions that trace these mechanisms, and that connect subjective psychosocial experience to objective markers of aging, are central to this Research Topic. We are particularly interested in how pharmacological treatments affect or alter these aging trajectories in the context of mental resilience and related psychosocial pathways.Comparative and cross cultural perspectives on psychosocial determinants of aging. We welcome comparative studies across diverse demographics and sexes living within the same cities or countries, as well as studies comparing different countries where the social fabric is culturally and socioeconomically distinct. Contributions that examine how these contextual differences shape the protective or harmful effects of social connection, purpose, and resilience are especially encouraged.Interventions that reduce loneliness and build resilience in older adults. Naming the problem is not enough. This collection prioritizes work that tests what actually helps: programs designed to reduce loneliness, foster community integration, and strengthen cognitive and emotional resilience. We are especially interested in studies that report on feasibility, adherence, and measurable outcomes rather than intention alone, including community based, digital, and clinical intervention models.Subjective age, purpose, and self worth as drivers of clinical outcomes. How old people feel, what they believe their life is for, and how they value themselves are not peripheral to health, they are predictors of it. We welcome research examining how subjective age, sense of purpose, and self worth systems relate to clinical outcomes and lifespan, including work that identifies which of these levers matter most and for whom.Policy and environmental supports that convert psychosocial capital into healthy longevity. Individual level findings only translate into population level gains when policy and environment allow it. This Research Topic welcomes frameworks and analyses of environmental supports that leverage psychosocial capital, particularly in the context of rapidly aging societies where the design of communities, health systems, and social infrastructure will determine whether these protective factors can scale.This Research Topic is aimed at researchers across gerontology, health psychology, behavioral medicine, epidemiology, and public health policy who want to see psychosocial determinants treated as a rigorous, evidence based lever for healthy longevity, not an afterthought to the biological story. Topic editors: Xiaohong Huang, Zhendong Feng, Jing Lv Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85583/psychosocial-determinants-of-healthy-longevity-social-connection-purpose-and-mental-resilience