The social anatomy of Pain: Friendship loss, sociotemporal disparities, and persistent physical pain

While research demonstrates that social network characteristics influence the experience of persistent physical pain, existing studies primarily focus on psychological aspects and are often confined to laboratory settings. This leaves critical gaps in understanding how these dynamics unfold in real-world contexts. One such gap involves the role of discretionary time availability, a key determinant of wellbeing. This is particularly important because friendship loss has temporal dimensions, as individuals must reallocate the time once shared with friends. Using data from the Canadian Time for Health Survey, this study adopts a three-stage analytical approach. First, bivariate analyses explore the distribution of self-reported pain by socioeconomic status (SES) and friendship loss. Next, binary logistic regressions examine the relationship between friendship loss and self-reported pain, accounting for time availability and relevant sociodemographic control variables. Finally, propensity score weighting and robustness tests evaluate whether otherwise similar individuals — differing only in their experience of friendship loss — report distinct levels of persistent physical pain. This research illustrates that: (i) friendship loss is a significant predictor of persistent physical pain; (ii) respondent sociodemographic characteristics shape the experience; (iii) both time excess and time poverty increase the expected risk of pain, suggesting the presence of Temporal Goldilocks Zones. In short, physical pain is concurrently a sociotemporal phenomenon, transcending individual characteristics.